THE RAPTURE AND ISRAEL
By William West
Author of
_Unconditional Immortality Or Resurrection Of The Dead_
THE PREMILLENNIALIST VIEW OF CHRIST
ISRAEL RESTORED
THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON
THE PREMILLENNIAL THOUSAND-YEARS
THE THRONE OF DAVID
DANIEL'S 70 WEEKS AND THE "GAP"
THE "ANTICHRIST" AND "MAN OF SIN"
THE FIRST RESURRECTION AND THE SECOND DEATH
THE THIRTEENTH TRIBE OF ISRAEL
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
á Chapter 1:
Premillennial beliefs, a multitude of divisions and confusions
á Chapter 2:
The nature of Christ.
o The nature
of Christ before He became flesh
¤ (1) Jesus Christ, the God who made all things and us
á Chapter 3:
Christ as reviled in the Old Testament
á Chapter 4:
Christ as reviled in the New Testament
o Jesus in the
New Testament
o Jesus as
reviled in John's gospel. The person who came from God and returned to
God
o Jesus as
reviled in Hebrews
á Chapter 5:
Jesus Christ, the God who became a man
o The nature
of Christ while He was flesh and dwelled among us [John 1:14]
¤ (1) Jesus Christ, the God who became a man
¤ (2) Jesus Christ, the God who died my death for my sin
o The nature
of Christ now and for all eternity
¤ (1) Jesus Christ, the God who lives
¤ (2) Jesus in John's Gospel: Came from Heaven, sent by God, will
return to God
á Chapter 6:
The nature of mankind
o (1) The
nature of mankind from creation to the resurrection
¤ The nature of mankind before the first sin
¤ The nature of mankind after Adam's sin
¤ From birth to death
¤ From death to the resurrection
o (2) The
nature of mankind for all eternity after the resurrection
á Chapter 7:
Was the death and resurrection of Christ foreknown by God?
á Chapter 8:
Kingdom of Heaven or kingdom of God?
á Chapter 9:
Did God plan the church or was it just an afterthought?
o If both God
and Christ had not failed
á Chapter 10:
Back to the temple made with hands
o From the
blood of Christ back to the blood of animals
o From Christ
our High Priest back to the Old Testament priesthood
o From the
substance back to the shadow
o From the
better New Covenant back to the Old Covenant
o From that
which makes alive back to that which kills
o From free
back to bondage
á Chapter 11:
Old Testament passages used by Millennialist to teach Christ would set up a
kingdom and rule the world from Jerusalem
á Chapter 12:
New Testament passages used by Millennialist
o (1) Matthew
24: The destruction of Israel, this chapter is regarded by many Millennialist
as being their strongest proof of the Millennium.
¤ Preterit Eschatology - Realized Eschatology - The A. D. 70
Doctrine
¤ The day of the Lord
¤ On the day of the Lord - The second coming of Christ
¤ On the day of the Lord - The resurrection and judgment of the
righteous
¤ On the day of the Lord - The resurrection and judgment of the
wicked
¤ On the day of the Lord - The final judgment
¤ On the day of the Lord - The total destruction of the earth
and the heavens which were made from nothing and will return to nothing
¤ On the day of the Lord - The total destruction of the
lost
¤ On the day of the Lord - The second death
¤ On the day of the Lord - Death will be abolished
¤ On the day of the Lord - The saved forever with the
Lord
¤ On the day of the Lord - The kingdom will be delivered up to
God
¤ On the day of the Lord - Christ will bring the lawless one to
an end by the appearance of His coming
¤ On the day of the Lord - "Wrath in the day of wrath and
revelation of the righteous judgment of God"
o (2) 2 Peter
3
o (3) 1
Thessalonians 4:17: Will the second coming of Christ be Premillennial? Will
there be an invisible return of Christ?
o (4)
Revelation 20: The Thousand years
o (5) Other
New Testament passages used by Millennialist. The first resurrection and
the second death. Is there one resurrection, or two, or more then two
resurrections?
á Chapter 13:
The "last days" passages
á Chapter 14:
What is the Great Tribulation?
á Chapter 15:
What is Armageddon?
á Chapter 16:
Who is John's "Antichrist"? Who is Paul's "man of
sin"?
á Chapter 17:
The Premillennial views of "Hell"
á Chapter 18:
Well-known Millennium predictions that failed
á Chapter 19:
The throne of David
o (1) The
Jewish earthly kingdom of Israel
o (2) The
Millennium earthly kingdom of Israel
á Chapter 20:
Is the Gospel "The power of God to salvation"?
á Chapter
21: Israel, is it still God's chosen people?
o The two-fold
promise
¤ The land promise
¤ The seed promise
o God's Israel
of today
á Chapter 22:
The Thirteenth Tribe
Summary: God, Daniel or any others
of the Old Testament prophets did not know about The Millennium
FOREWORD
WHAT IS
PREMILLENNIAL BELIEFS?
For the most part the
Premillennialist beliefs are a revival of the beliefs of the Jews in the time
of Christ. Israel was looking for an earthly king who would drive Rome out,
conquer other nations, and restore the Kingdom as it was in the time of David.
Premillennialist say this is what Christ came to do but that God did not
foresee the Jews rejecting and killing Christ, but because they did, the
restoring of the kingdom was put off and the church age is an unforeseen substitute,
which begins at the death of Christ and will last only unto He comes back, then
the unforeseen church age (the "gap") will end, Israel and the Law of
the Old Testament will be restored. Christ, who most Millennialist believe to
be a created being and did not exist before His birth and He will literally sit
on the throne of David in Jerusalem and rule the world. Premillennialist make
God and Christ to have failed in their plan to setup the kingdom of Heaven
because of the rejection of Christ by the Jews; and His death, resurrection, or
God did not foresee the _church age_ which they call the gap. To this basis
teaching, different Millennialist adds a seven-year rapture, some before the
Millennium and some after it, and many other contradictory variations of
beliefs. In the Millennium Satan will be bound for a thousand years, but will
be loosed for a "little season." He and his angels will make war on
Christ in Jerusalem and all but overcome Him (the battle of Armageddon), but
God will save Him. Satan, his angels, and the lost will come to their end in
Gehenna just south of Jerusalem, which will have been restored. Most believe
Christ and the saved will live forever on this earth and no person will ever go
to Heaven. IN BRIEF, THE PREMILLENNIALIST BELIEF IS A COMPLETE REWRITE OF THE
BIBLE.
As David Brown puts it,
"Premillennialism is no barren speculation--useless though true, or
innocuous though false. It is a school of Scripture interpretation; it impinges
upon and affects some of the most commanding points of the Christian faith; and
when suffered to work its unimpeded way, it stops not till it has pervaded with
its own genius the entire system of one's theology, and the whole tone of
spiritual character, constructing, I had almost said, a world of its own; so
that, holding the same faith, and cherishing the same fundamental hopes as
other Christen, he yet sees things through a medium of his own, and finds
everything instinct with the life which this doctrine has generated within
him" Page 8, and "That the fleshly and sublunary state is not to
terminated with the second coming of Christ, but to be then set up in a new
form; when with His glorified saints, the Redeemer will reign in person on the
throne of David at Jerusalem for a thousand years, over a world of men yet in
the flesh, eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in
marriage, under this mysterious way." Christ's Second Coming: Will It Be
Premillennial, Page 6, T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1858.
The Messiah Israel looked for was a
person who would restore Israel as a nation and make them supreme to all other
nations as it was in the time of David. In the restored nation they looked for,
there would have been birth, life and death for all just as there was in the time
of David. No one thought they would have eternal life. It was not something
they looked for. Eternal life was something new to the teaching of Christ.
Israel looked for a messiah that was
just as David was, a man that would live and die just as David did, a person
that was just a human as all other persons were. Not a Messiah that would be
God. The belief of Millennialistist is that Christ was going to set up the
earthly kingdom of Israel and that the death and resurrection of Christ were
not in the plan of God. This view is basic to all the versions of the
Millennium. Without it the Millennium would be totally destroyed. With it,
salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ is totally destroyed.
There is no way both can be true. Many versions
of Premillennial doctrines destroy life after death for all and
replace it with only a lifetime on this earth with no evil, but one that still
has death at the end of this lifetime. At the end of the life of the Messiah
the Jews looked for no one would have been saved from the wages of sin, death,
for the Jews would not have crucified Christ and He would hot have shed His
blood to give us life in place of death. No one, Jew or Gentile, would ever
have eternal life without the death of Christ. There would be no life after
death [1 Corinthians 15:13-19].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - -
Chapter 1
Premillennial
beliefs, a multitude of divisions and confusions
After the Judgment where will we
spend eternity? When I begin to research for this book, I was surprised and
shocked to learn how many there are who say they believe the Bible but do not
believe in the deity and the preexistence of Christ, but believe that He did
not existence before His birth. Even more surprised to learn that many believe
that the sacrifice of Christ will be put aside and go back to the Old Testament
sacrifices of animal; back from the substance to the shadow [Hebrews 8:5ff;
10:1-24]; and that the New Covenant is just an afterthought. Satan is doing his
work well.
But, I have been just as surprised
at how many there are that say they are Christians, members of the church
Christ give His life for that does not know that this kind of teaching is going
on in the religious world, often even in the congregation they attend, and they
do not seem to care. When I first became a Christian in the fifty, most
Christians know the Bible and would do all they could to teach any person that
was in err; now it often does not seem to be so.
PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINE IS A SYSTEM
(S) OF INTERPRETATION, WHICH INVOLVES MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
WHOLE BIBLE, AND DETERMINES THE PRESENT PURPOSE OF GOD. Premillennial beliefs
make God and Christ to have failed in their plan to setup the kingdom because
of the rejection of Christ by the Jews. It makes the church to be something God
set up as a substitution. It makes two resurrections, one of the just, which is
most often said to be at the second coming of Christ; and a second resurrection
of the lost a thousand years after the coming of Christ and the first
resurrection. Some versions of Premillennial doctrines make Christ be
nothing more than a glorified man. Some versions make Christ and all the saved
to live on earth for all eternity with a body much as we now have. In short, it
is a system of faith that has little in common with the New Testament. THE
PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINE IS BASED ON THE BELIEF THAT GOD CAN AND DID FAIL TO
ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL. If both God and Christ did not fail,
the Premillennial belief is completely destroyed.
1. The Scofield
Bible says God failed.
2. Hal Lindsey
in "There's A New World Coming" says God failed.
3. Charles
Ryrie in "The Basis of the Premillennial Faith" says God and Christ
failed.
4. The
Premillennial doctrine affects the interpretation of the covenant with Abraham
by making it not yet be fulfilled, but still to be fulfilled at some future
time.
5. It affects
the interpretation of God's promise to David that his descendants would rule
over Israel forever. Changes Christ now ruling in His kingdom, the church, to
Christ literally ruling on this earth at some time in the future.
6. It affects
the interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies of the kingdom by making the
kingdom be a combination of church and state on this earth, the earthly kingdom
of the Old Testament.
THERE ARE MANY DIVISIONS IN
PREMILLENNIAL BELIEFS, AN ASTOUNDING LACK OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THEMSELVES. In
fact, there are so many different variations of the Millennium theories that it
would be impossible to accurately define what is meant by Premillennial. That
which one person believes and calls Premillennial will be completely alien to
that which another person believes and calls Premillennial. One book
on Premillennial beliefs will have only a few similarity and many
disagreements with another book on Premillennial beliefs.
Most PreMillennialist believe it was
prophesied that Christ was to set up an earthly kingdom on the throne of David
and reign from Jerusalem, but because the Jews rejected Him the establishment
of the kingdom was put off unto after His second coming and the church was
established instead, but only as a temporary substitution. The Jews will be
restored, and the temple rebuilt.
Some PreMillennialist tell us that
God planned for Christ to set up the kingdom of Heaven when He came, but His
rejection by the Jews was a surprise to God, therefore, He set up the church as
a substitution and at that time made plains to set up the kingdom of Heaven at
the second coming of Christ. But, other PreMillennialist give us many passages
to show that God foretold of the kingdom to be set up at the second coming of
Christ. HOW COULD GOD NOT HAVE KNOWN THAT THE KINGDOM WOULD NOT BE SET UP UNTO
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST AND AT THE SAME TIME FORETOLD IT? This
Premillennial belief makes Christ a failure. He failed to set up the kingdom He
came to set up. DO NOT BELIEVE THIS FOR CHRIST DID WHAT HE CAME TO DO. HE CAME
TO FULFILL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS, WHICH INCLUDED SETTING UP THE KINGDOM, AND
HE DID.
MOST PREMILLENNIALIST BELIEVE CHRIST DID NOT EXIST UNTO
HIS BIRTH.
APOCALYPTIC OR EARLY MILLENNIUM
BELIEFS: There were much Apocalyptic writing in the time between the
Testaments and in the first century, which was believed by many Jews and the
early Christians were influenced by it. The early Millennium beliefs were that
there was a dualistic world of both good and evil but the good would in time
overcome the evil. The Apocalyptic Premillennial belief again became somewhat
popular in the nineteenth century.
MEDIEVAL ALLEGORICAL OR HISTORIC
PREMILLENNIALIST BELIEF: Satan was lord over the world and Christ
over the Church. There was an ongoing battle between the two, but the battle
has already been won through the cross and eventually what domain was left to
Satan would be taken from him. The church will stay on earth and go through the
tribulation period. Augustine's allegorical view was the view of many in middle
ages and the reformation, and it is still believed by some today. It was the
official belief of the medieval church. However, there were groups of
Apocalyptic Millennialist after the Medieval Age, mostly under charismatic
leaders and were often associated with radicalism and counterculture groups.
DISPENSATIONAL
OR LITERAL PREMILLENNIALIST
CLASSICAL OR UNMODIFIED
DISPENSATIONAL belief is a radical division of the Apocalyptic
PreMillennialist, which teach there are seven distinct periods and God deals
with man according to different principles in each of the periods. This view
was first taught by John Nelson Darby about 1800 to 1880 and became well know
when Scofield put most of Darby's views in the Scofield Reference Bible. Belief
of PreMillennialist goes back to about the third century. The beliefs of
Dispensationalists begin with John Darby. WHEN A DOCTRINE IS KNOWN TO HAVE AN
ORIGIN EIGHTEEN CENTURIES AFTER THE NEW TESTAMENT, SHOULD NOT ALL KNOW IT COULD
NOT BE FROM THE BIBLE? In the past, The Dispensational doctrine was taught
mostly by Pentecostal and Holiness churches but has now become wider spread. It
seems to have become the most accepted version
of Premillennial doctrines and has now spread to many churches.
Some of the basic views of Dispensationalists
1. Mankind was
innocent from creation to the fall.
2. Mankind
under conscience from the fall to the flood. Mankind with authority over
the earth from the flood to Abraham.
3. Mankind
under promise from Abraham to the Law of Moses.
4. Mankind
under the Law from the Law of Moses to Christ
5. Mankind from
the death of Christ to His second coming.
6. Mankind from
the second coming to the end of the Millennium.
7. From the
second coming to the end of the Millennium.
1. There will
be a second coming of Christ to set up His kingdom after the seven-year
Tribulation.
2. There will
be a resurrection of the just before the millennium and a resurrection of the
unjust after the millennium.
3. The Jews
will repent and receive the land forever that was promised to Abraham, which
they say was unconditional and have not been fulfilled.
4. The
"Kingdom of Heaven" is the kingdom of David that was postponed when
the Jews rejected Christ and He failed to establish an earthly kingdom with Israel,
which He came to establish, but it will be restored for Israel. That the
land promise was unconditional and was unfulfilled; therefore, Israel must be
restored.
5. The
"Kingdom of God" is God's universal kingdom that will be worldwide.
It seems that many Dispensationalists believe the Kingdom of Heaven will be
God's kingdom on earth of Jews, and the Kingdom of God will be God's kingdom in
Heaven of Gentiles. Instead of 144,000 Jews being the only ones in Heaven, as
many PreMillennialist believe, many Dispensationalists have no Jews and all
Gentiles in Heaven; IN OTHER WORDS, MOST DISPENSATIONALISTS BELIEVE JEWS WILL
SPEND ETERNITY ON EARTH ON THE LAND GOD PROMISED TO ABRAHAM FOREVER AND
GENTILES WILL SPEND ETERNITY IN HEAVEN [Note: This is Dispensationalism as it
is set forth in the Scofield Bible but this or no other belief seems to be
universal among PreMillennialist or Dispensationalists so do not be surprised
if one says "that is not what I believe." Many do but some do not].
Dispensationalists are divided on where the church will be both during the
rapture and during the millennium; also where and what the church will be after
the millennium. Some teach it will be in Heaven or will dwell in the New
Jerusalem hovering above the earth unto the millennium is over, others say the
church will return to earth when seven-years are over and the millennium
begins.
PROGRESS OR MODIFIED DISPENSATIONAL
PREMILLENNIALIST have called in question and abandoned some of the teaching
of classical dispensational beliefs.
POSTMILLENNIALIST believe the thousand years, like
many things in Revelation, is not to be taken literally, but symbolical of a
long period of time. Unlike many PreMillennialist, most post Millennialist do
not believe there will be a literally thousand years. Christ is now ruling as
King and Priest [Hebrews 7] in the church, and eventually, the whole world will
become Christians, and there will be a long period of peace. Christ will return
after this time of peace. This Postmillennial belief was the dominant view
among Protestants from the Reformation unto after the publication of the
Scofield Reference Bible in 1909.
PreMillennialist or PostMillennialist
THE RAPTURE: But which rapture?
1. "PRE-TRIBULATION
RAPTURE" Many Dispensationalists believe this view of the rapture. In
this view the rapture will occur before the period of persecution, before the
tribulation period begin. The rapture and an invisible second coming will take
place before the seven-year tribulation. After the seven-year rapture Jesus
will return to earth. Some, who believes this view, believe that there will be
one coming of Christ, some two, and some three or more. More PreMillennialist
than may believe this view than any of the others. The pre-tribulation rapture
was not taught before about 1830 by anyone and only became well known after the
Scofield Reference Bible was published in 1909. Dave MacPherson says, "We
have seen that a young Scottish lassie named Margaret Macdonald had a private
revelation in Port Glasgow, Scotland, in the early part of 1830 that a select
group of Christians would be caught up to meet Christ in the air before the
days of Antichrist. An eye-and-ear witness, Robert Norton M.D., preserved her
handwritten account of her pre-trib rapture revelation in two of his books, and
said it was the first time anyone ever split the second coming into two
distinct parts or stages. His writings, along with much other Catholic
Apostolic Church literature, have been hidden many decades from the mainstream
of Evangelical thought and only recently surfaced. Margaret's views
were well-known to those who visited her home, among them John Darby
of the Brethren. Within a few months her distinctive prophetic outlook was
mirrored in the September, 1830 issue of The Morning Watch and the early
Brethren assembly at Plymouth, England. Early disciples of the pre-trib
interpretation often called it a new doctrine." "The Incredible
Cover-Up: The True Story of the Pre-Trib Rapture" 1975, Page 93.
2. "MID-TRIBULATION
RAPTURE" This view is that the church will be raptured away during
the middle of the tribulation.
3. "POST-TRIBULATION
RAPTURE" This view is that the rapture will occur after the
seven-year tribulation.
4. "PARTIAL-RAPTURE" Only
certain believers will be raptured. They do not agree with each other on whom
or how they will be chosen or why only some of the saved will be raptured. This
view is somewhat like the Pre-tribulation rapture, which believes the church is
composed of true Christians and those who only make a profession of being a
Christian. The true Christians will be raptured away and not go into the
tribulation but those who only make a profession of being a Christian will be
left on earth and be in the tribulation.
5. "PREWRATH
RAPTURE" Believers will escape the wrath by being removed from the
earth before it begins.
6. "MANY
MINI-RAPTURES" This view is that there will not be just one
rapture but many mini-raptures at different times. They do not agree with
each other on (1) how many there will be, (2) if any are all are passed, (3) if
any are all of the mini-raptures are yet to be.
7. "ALREADY
PAST RAPTURE" Or the A. D. 70 rapture. If you are living today,
you have been "left behind." This view, like the above views, crosses
denominational lines and is found in many of them.
8. "SECRET
RAPTURE" In many of their books of fictions there is a secret
rapture? Secret from whom? If it were secret where did they find
anything about it? When they tell about it in their books, how can it be
secret? If all Christians were suddenly absent from the earth, how could there
be anything "secret" about it? They are doing all the teaching they
can to make sure that it is not a secret from anyone. The resurrection is never
called a _secret,_ it will come as unexpected as a thief, but it will be
seen and known about by all.
9. "FIRST
AND SECOND STAGES" R. H. Boll's view is that Christ will come
in two states. In the first stage the saints will be removed from the earth for
a time; then the "real second coming" will be when Christ returns
after the first stage.
"COVENANT THEOLOGY" is
that God covenant of grace remains the same in all the seven dispensations
throughout the Old and New Testaments as opposed to the different purposes for
each of the seven dispensations of Dispensational beliefs. Covenant Theology
especially believe Israel and the church are under the same covenant of grace
as opposed to both being under different covenants of grace as Dispensational
PreMillennialist believe them to be.
PRETERITS (full)
view is that the second coming of Christ has already taken place along with the
great tribulation, the rapture and the final judgment occurred in A. D. 70 when
Jerusalem was destroyed and no second coming of Christ, no resurrection, no
tribulation is yet to come, and the old heavens and earth completely passed
away and now we are living in the new heavens and earth; the Great Commission
has been completely fulfilled. The A. D. 70 theory called "Realized
Eschatology" seems to be a renewal of the Preterits belief under a new
name. Realized Eschatology teaches that Christ came in A. D. 70, all prophecies
were fulfilled at that time, the Old Testament saints were resurrected, and all
that are in Christ go to be with Christ (supposedly in Heaven) at the moment of
their death.
PRETERITS (partial)
view is that Christ did come in judgment on Israel in A. D. 70 and came in
judgment on others nations, but the judgment of all at the second coming of
Christ is yet to come.
AMILLENNIALIAL VIEW believes
the thousand years (ten time ten times ten, a full or complete period of time;
ten in the Bible denotes a fullness, a thousand denotes a large indefinite
number, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills Psalms 50:10) are symbolic of a
long period of time, which begin with the establishment of the kingdom of God
or Heaven (the church) in A. D. 30 and will last unto the return of Christ when
the kingdom will be delivered up to God [1 Corinthians 15:24]. Amillennialist
believe the "signs of the times" (tribulation, apostasy, the spirit
of the Antichrist, etc.) to be marks of this present time, and there will not
be a "golden age" of unprecedented gospel victory over all the earth
before His return. The symbolism of the binding of Satan in Revelation 20 refers
to Satan now being limited by the victory of Christ over death.
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES view
of the Millennium is that 144,000 will be chosen to go to Heaven and with
Christ rule over all others who will be on earth. Also, all will be given a
second chance in the Millennium.
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST view
of the Millennium is that the Millennium will be in Heaven. During the thousand
years the saints will be in Heaven, and at the end of the Millennium a Holy
City will descend from Heaven and the saved will live a wonderful life in
it forever. Their Heaven will be on this earth. The resurrection and
destruction of the wicked will be at the end of the Millennium. They believe
that at the second coming of Christ the unrighteous will be kill, the righteous
will be taken back to Heaven for a thousand years. During the thousand years
only Satan and his angels will inhabit the earth. At the end of the thousand
years Christ will return to earth with the saved and the unrighteous will be
raised for judgment. Satan gathers his angels and with the help of the
resurrected unrighteous will attempt to interfere with the judgment. They will
be destroyed. No seven-year rapture.
LATTER-DAY SAINTS (Mormons) view of the
Millennium is that Christ will destroy the wicked at His coming and the earth
will be transformed to a terrestrial glory, as they believe it was before
Adam's sin. During the thousand years, life on earth will be about as it is now
but without sin, poverty, or crime. They will have children, build houses, and
in all ways go about life as now. With their "new revelations" they
add many more details, to many to list in the space I have. After the
Millennium, they have three degrees of glory. The highest will be the celestial
glory that will be on this earth, which will have the things the earth now has,
cities, rivers, animals, etc. The Terrestrial and Celestial glories will not be
on earth, but I have not found where they tell where these two glories will be.
All that are not Mormons will be in one of the two. Only the few who were
Mormons and fell away will be cast in outer darkness where there is no glory,
but what happens to them seems not to have been made known at this time; or
just not made known to those who are not Mormons; they keep much of their
beliefs from those who are not Mormons.
THE TEN LOST TRIBES ARE ENGLAND,
WHICH IS THE REAL ISRAEL TODAY! I found it difficult to
believe, and I think many will find this just as difficult to believe as
I did, yet there is a rather large group within the Millennium beliefs
that believe that the Anglo-Saxons Race is the true Israel. Richard Brothers
was the originator, and it was later spread by Piazzi Smyth. There are books
both pro and con on this theory. Perhaps the best book in defense of this
theory is by Professor E. Odlum, "God's Covenant Man: British
Israel." Herbert W. Armstrong of the Church of God taught this. For those
who would like to know more of this theory, Foy E. Wallace, Jr. in "God's
Prophetic Word" Pages 386-450 is good. That the Anglo-Saxon race is the ten
tribes of Israel is completely contrary to the history of the origin of that
race. The Mormons make a similar claim, that the Americans Indians are the lost
ten tribes.
SOME PREMILLENNIALIST BELIEVES
CHRIST WILL GO BACK TO HEAVEN WITH THE SAVED AFTER THE THOUSAND YEARS, SOME
AFTER A THOUSAND AND SEVEN YEARS. They believe the judgment will be after the
Millennium, after the thousand years of the kingdom on earth, and the believers
will go to Heaven and the lost will go to Hell.
THERE ARE SOME PREMILLENNIALIST THAT BELIEVES CHRIST
WILL RULE FROM HEAVEN, BUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD WILL BE ON THIS EARTH.
"THAT THE FLESHLY AND SUBLUNARY
STATE IS NOT TO TERMINATE WITH THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, BUT TO BE THEN SET
UP IN A NEW FORM; WHEN, WITH HIS GLORIFIED SAINTS, THE REDEEMER WILL REIGN IN
PERSON ON THE THRONE OF DAVID AT JERUSALEM FOR A THOUSAND YEARS, OVER A WORLD
OF MEN YET IN THE FLESH, EATING AND DRINKING, PLANTING AND BUILDING, MARRYING
AND GIVING IN MARRIAGE, UNDER THIS MYSTERIOUS SWAY. This is Premillennialism,
or - as the early fathers, and after them the reformers and our elder divines,
termed it - Chiliasm...I have said, for example, that they expect the saints,
in glorified bodies, to be associated with Christ in his Millennial reign; but
what saints, is not agreed. The early chiliasts - so far as I have been able to
gather their views - thought that those whom Christ will find alive at his
coming would be left below during the thousand years, and only such as had died
before his coming would appear with him in glory. A few in modern times are of
the same opinion, postponing the change of the living saints till the end of
the Millennium. But, the great majority of modern PreMillennialist hold that
the saints of both classes - the dead by resurrection, and the living in
instantaneous transformation - will appear with Christ in glory at the
beginning of the Millennium. Again, I have said they look for a reign over a
world of men in flesh and blood; but what men, is not agreed. The moderns, for
the most part, expect the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, and their
supremacy over the nations of the earth: while the early chiliasts appear to
have agreed with their opponents, that Christianity had forever abolished
Jewish peculiarities; and though they were termed Judaizers, this was not, so
far as I can observe, because they contended for any Millennial supremacy of
Jew over Gentiles, but because their system Judaized Christianity itself. In a
word, I have said they expect a reign upon earth of Christ and his glorified
saints; but whether actually upon the earth, or only over and hovering above
it, in the air, and whether visibly or invisibly - whether the ruled will see
their rulers, and, if so, to what extent, whether fully or but partially, whether
always or only at time - is by no means agreed." David Brown,
"Christ's Second Coming: Will It Be Premillennial?" Pages 6-7,
1858.
But, other PreMillennialist believes
Christ will rule from Heaven but the kingdom of God will be on this earth. Some
PreMillennialist believes Christ will go back to Heaven with the saved after
the thousand years. They believe the judgment will be after the Millennium,
after the thousand years of the kingdom on earth, and the believers will go to
Heaven and the lost will either go to Hell or be totally destroyed.
Many believes there will be a rapture in which the dead saints
will be resurrected and both the living saints and the resurrected saints will
be taken from the earth to be with Christ for seven years before the beginning
of the thousand years.
MANY BELIEVES THERE WILL BE A
SEVEN-YEAR RAPTURE in which the dead saints will be resurrected and both, the
living saints, and those who would have been resurrected will be taken from the
earth to be with Christ for seven years. After reading many pages by those who
believe in the "rapture," I am thoroughly convinced that on this they
are the in the company of the most divided and confused people on earth. I
think it would be difficult to find any two that believe the same thing. Below
is a list of some of the major versions of the rapture, but within each of
these versions most have their own view that is different in one or more ways
then any of the others who say they believe the same view. The incompatibility
of the many versions of the Millennium doctrines is, to say the least, amazing.
SOME OF THE SEVEN-YEAR RAPTURE VERSIONS
THE TRIBULATION PERIOD: Most
think it is the 70th week of Daniel's 70 weeks in Daniel 9. There is little or
no unity of teaching on what will happen in this "week." About all
that most do agree on is that it will be a bad time to be on earth. Many see
the nations that exist today, the U. S., Russia and others being in the
tribulation. For years in the recent past Russia was seen to have a large part
it in the tribulation, but now few see Russia in it. Every uprising or war and
every natural disaster is seen as a sure sign that the Millennium is near only
to be replaced by new ones when they become past history.
AFTER THE MILLENNIUM: Most, but not
all, Millennialist believes Christ will forever be on earth and will rule in
the "new Jerusalem." The earth will be restored to be as it was
before Adam sinned. It seems few Millennialist believes anyone will be in
Heaven, but at their funerals most have gone to Heaven to be with the others
that have gone before them. Others believe mankind will forever be on the earth
and no person will ever be in Heaven, but Christ will rule the earth from
Heaven.
The basic views (in general) of PreMillennialist
Premillennialism, the God who failed
to be God, the God that was defected by man.
THROUGH OUT THIS ARTICLE, WHEN I SAY,
"Millennialist believe" IT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT MANY OF THEM
DO BELIEVE, BUT ALSO SOMETHING THAT SOME OF THEM MAY NOT BELIEVE. THERE IS A
SUCH DISAGREEMENT AMONG THEM THAT THERE IS NO PART OF PREMILLENNIALISM THAT IS
BELIEVED BY ALL.
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CHAPTER 2
THE NATURE
OF CHRIST
"We know that, when He appears,
we shall be like Him, because we shall see His just as He is" [1 John
3:2]. Christ now, while He is at the right hand of God in Heaven has a
spiritual body and this is how we will see Him when He returns. Not the nature
He had when He had for about 33 years when He was in the image of Adam (an
earthly body as Adam), but the nature He has now while He is at the right hand
of God in Heaven. What Christ is like now is what He will be like "when He
appears." The body He now has and will have at that time is basis to
understand what we shall be after the resurrection.
THE NATURE OF CHRIST BEFORE HE BECAME FLESH, the God who made all
things and us.
"Then God said, 'Let Us make
man in Our image" [Genesis 1:26].
"IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD [CHRIST], AND THE WORD
[CHRIST] WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD [CHRIST] WAS GOD. HE [CHRIST] WAS IN THE
BEGINNING WITH GOD. ALL THINGS CAME INTO BEING BY HIM [CHRIST], AND APART FROM
HIM [CHRIST] NOTHING CAME INTO BEING THAT HAS COME INTO BEING. IN HIM [CHRIST]
WAS LIFE, AND THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN...HE [CHRIST] WAS IN THE WORLD AND
THE WORLD WAS MADE THROUGH HIM [CHRIST]...AND THE WORD [CHRIST] BECAME FLESH,
AND DWELLED AMONG US" [JOHN 1:1-14].
John states three facts in such a simple way that a child could
understand them.
Then he restates it so that no one could misunderstand what he had
said.
á "For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich"
[2 Corinthians 8:9]
His claim to being equal with God
was even acknowledged by His enemies, but they called it blasphemy [John 5:17;
5:18; 8:58-59; 10:33-36]. If, as some PreMillennialist tells us that Christ did
not exist unto His birth, it would have been blasphemy and a sin to make
Himself equal with God. Therefore, if He did not exist before His birth, He did
blaspheme and He was a sinner just as we are and His death did not save us from
our sins. But, some PreMillennialist tells us that Christ did not exist unto
His birth!!! Is there anyway God's word could say "the word"
preexisted that they would believe? "The word" existed before time
began.
1. "And
now, glorify Me together with Yourself, Father, with the glory WHICH
I HAD WITH YOU BEFORE THE WORLD WAS" [John 17:5]. Christ existed with God
before the world was made, long before He became a man.
2. And again
Christ says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and
who was and who is to come, THE ALMIGHTY" [Revelation 1:8]. Jesus clearly
says He is "THE ALMIGHTY."
3. "For by
Him [Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers and authorities--all
thing have been created by Him and for Him. AND HE IS BEFORE ALL THING, and in
Him all things hold together" [Colossians 1:16-17]. Jesus Christ is the
Creator of the universe. Three things are here stated.
o (1)
"For in Him were all things created"
¤ All things "in the havens and upon the earth"
¤ "Things visible and thing invisible"
¤ "Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
power"
¤ "All things have been created through Him, and for
Him"
o (2)
"And He is before all things"
o (3)
"And in Him all things hold together"
4. Christ said,
"I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE. The Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
Jesus answered them, 'Many good works have I showed you from the Father; for
which of those works do you stone Me'? The Jews answered him, 'For a
good work we stone you not, but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a
man, MAKE YOURSELF GOD'" [John 10:30-33]. If Christ is not God, He is an
impostor and a liar. The Jews did not understand Christ to be saying He was
God's chosen one, as many PreMillennialist say. Without any doubt, they
understood Him to be saying He was God.
5. "A
virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name IMMANUEL"
[Isaiah 7:14]. Immanuel means "God with us." Matthew says, "Now
all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and
shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel: which is, being
interpreted, God with us" [Matthew 1:22-23].
6. "Looking
for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of OUR GREAT GOD AND
SAVIOR, CHRIST JESUS: who gave Himself for us" [Titus 2:13-14].
7. "Of our
GOD AND SAVIOR, CHRIST JESUS" [2 Peter 1:1 New American Standard Version].
8. "But of
the Son he says 'YOUR THRONE, O GOD, is forever and ever'" [Hebrews
1:8].
9. "Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever" [Hebrews 13:8;
also Hebrews 1:12; Psalms 102:25-27].
10. "Christ
Jesus who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on AN EQUALITY
WITH GOD a thing to be grasped" [Philippians 2:5-6].
11. Also,
Revelation 10:6 and 14:6-7
ONLY GOD IS TO BE WORSHIPED. NO MAN
OR ANGEL IS TO BE WORSHIPED, BUT CHRIST IS WORSHIPED [Isaiah 45:21-23; Matthew
2:1; 14:33; 28:9; 28:17; Luke 24:51-52; John 9:37-38; Acts 7:59; 1 Corinthians
16:22; Philippians 2:11-11; 1 Timothy 1:12; Revelation 1:17; 5:8-14; many
more]. IF CHRIST WERE NOT GOD, BUT ACCEPTED OR ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE WORSHIPED,
HE WOULD BE PUTTING HIMSELF IN THE PLACE OF GOD WHEN HE WAS ONLY A MAN; IT
WOULD HAVE BEEN BLASPHEMING AS THE JEWS FREQUENTLY ACCUSED HIM OF DOING [Mark
2:6-8; John 5:18].
JESUS IS THE
"I AM"
"Before Abraham was born, I AM" [John 8:58].
"But he said unto them, I AM, be not afraid" [John 6:20;
Matthew 14:27; Mark 6:50]. "It is I" in many English translations,
but "I AM" in the Greek. See Alfred Marshall "Parallel New
Testament In Greek And English," Page 46.
Barnes
Notes on the New Testament, Colossians 1:16. "He does not declare that he
created all things in the spiritual kingdom of God, or that he arranged the
events of the gospel dispensation...but that everything was created by
him...There could not possibly be a more explicit declaration, the universe was
created by Christ, than this. As if the simple declaration in the most
comprehensive terms were not enough, the apostle goes into a specification of
things existing in heaven and earth, and so varies the statement as if to
prevent the possibility of mistake...There could not be a more positive
declaration than this, that the universe was created by Christ; and if so, he
is Divine. The work of creation is the exertion of the highest power to which
we can form a conception, and is often appealed to in the Scriptures by God to
prove that he is Divine, in contradistinction from idols...The assertion is,
the 'creative' power of Christ was exerted on 'all things.' It is not in
reference to angels only, or to man, or to Jews, or to Gentiles; it is in
relation to 'everything in heaven and on earth.'"
Adam
Clarke Commentary on Colossians 1:15-16: "Verse 15. Who is the image of
the invisible God? The counterpart of God Almighty, and if the image of the
invisible God, consequently, nothing that appeared in him could be that image;
for if it could be visible in the Son, it could also be visible in the Father;
but if the Father be invisible, consequently, his image in the Son must be
invisible also. This is that form of God of which he divested himself; the
ineffable glory in which he not only did not appear, as to its splendor and
accompaniments, but concealed also its essential nature; that inaccessible
light which no man, no created being, can possibly see. This was that Divine
nature, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, which dwelled in him. The
first-born of every creature. I suppose this phrase to mean the same as
that, Philippians 2:9: God has given him a name which is above every name; he
is as man at the head of all the creation of God; nor can he with any propriety
be considered as a creature, having himself created all things, and existed
before anything was made. If it be said that God created him first,
and that he, by a delegated power from God, created all things, this is most
flatly contradicted by the apostle's reasoning in the 16th and 17th verses.
Colossians 1:16,17 As the Jews term Jehovah becoro shel olam, the first-born of
all the world, or of all the creation, to signify his having created or
produced all things; (see Wolfius in loc.) so Christ is here termed, and the
words which follow in the 16th and 17th Colossians 1:16,17 verses are the proof
of this. The phraseology is Jewish; and as they apply it to the supreme Being
merely to denote his eternal preexistence, and to point him out as the cause of
all things; it is most evident that St. Paul uses it in the same way, and
illustrates his meaning in the following words, which would be absolutely
absurd if we could suppose that by the former he intended to convey any idea of
the inferiority of Jesus Christ. Verse 16. For by him were all things created,
two verses contain parts of the same subject. I shall endeavor to distinguish
the statements of the apostle, and reason from them in such a way as the
premises shall appear to justify, without appealing to any other scripture in
proof of the doctrine, which I suppose these verses to vindicate. Four things
are here asserted: 1. That Jesus Christ is the Creator of the universe; of all
things visible and invisible; of all things that had a beginning, whether they
exist in time or in eternity. 2. That whatsoever was created was created FOR
himself; that he was the sole end of his own work. 3. That he was prior to all
creation, to all beings, whether in the visible or invisible world. 4. That he
is the preserver and governor of all things; for by him all things consist.
Now, allowing St. Paul to have understood the terms, which he used, he must
have considered Jesus Christ as being truly and properly God. I. Creation is
the proper work of an infinite, unlimited, and unoriginated Being; possessed of
all perfection's in their highest degrees; capable of knowing, willing, and
working infinitely, unlimitedly, and without control: and as creation signifies
the production of being where all was absolute nonentity, so it necessarily
implies that the Creator acted of and from himself; for as, previously to this
creation, there was no being, consequently, he could not be actuated by any
motive, reason, or impulse, without himself; which would argue there was some
being to produce the motive or impulse, or to give the reason. Creation,
therefore, is the work of him who is unoriginated, infinite, unlimited, and
eternal. But, Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things, therefore, Jesus
Christ must be, according to the plain construction of the apostle's words,
truly and properly GOD. II. As, previously to creation, there was no being but
God, consequently, the great First Cause must, in the exertion of his creative
energy, have respect to himself alone; for he could no more have respect to
that which had no existence, than he could be moved by nonexistence, to produce
existence or creation. The Creator, therefore, must make everything FOR
himself. Should it be objected that Christ created officially or by delegation,
I answer: This is impossible; for, as creation requires absolute and unlimited
power, or omnipotence, there can be but one Creator; because it is impossible
that there can be two or more Omnipotents, Infinities, or Eternals. It is
therefore, evident that creation cannot be effected officially, or by
delegation, for this would imply a Being conferring the office, and delegating
such power; and that the Being to whom it was delegated was a dependent Being;
consequently, not unoriginated and eternal; but this the nature of creation
proves to be absurd. 1. The thing being impossible in itself, because no
limited being could produce a work that necessarily requires omnipotence. 2. It
is impossible, because, if omnipotence be delegated, he to whom it is delegated
had it not before, and he who delegates it ceases to have it, and consequently
ceases to be GOD; and the other to whom it was delegated becomes God, because
such attributes as those with which he is supposed to be invested are essential
to the nature of God. On this supposition God ceases to exist, though infinite
and eternal, and another not naturally infinite and eternal becomes such; and
thus, an infinite and eternal Being ceases to exist, and another infinite and
eternal Being is produced in time, and has a beginning, which is absurd.
Therefore, as Christ is the Creator, he did not create by delegation, or in any
official way. Again, if he had created by delegation or officially, it would
have been for that Being who gave him that office, and delegated to him the
requisite power; but the text says that all things were made BY him and FOR
him, which is a demonstration that the apostle understood Jesus Christ to be
truly and essentially God. III. As all creation necessarily exists in time, and
had a commencement, and there was an infinite duration in which it did not
exist, whatever was before or prior to that must be no part of creation; and
the Being who existed prior to creation, and before all things-all existence of
every kind, must be the unoriginated and eternal God: but St. Paul says, Jesus
Christ was before all things; ergo, the apostle conceived Jesus Christ to be
truly and essentially God. IV. As every effect depends upon its cause, and
cannot exist without it; so creation, which is an effect of the power and skill
of the Creator, can only exist and be preserved by a continuance of that energy
that first gave it being. Hence, God, as the Preserver, is as necessary to the
continuance of all things, as God the Creator was to their original production.
But, this preserving or continuing power is here ascribed to Christ, for the
apostle says, And by him do all things consist; for as all being was derived
from him as its cause, so all being must subsist by him, as the effect subsists
by and through its cause. This is another proof that the apostle considered
Jesus Christ to be truly and properly God, as he attributes to him the
preservation of all created things, which property of preservation belongs to
God alone; ergo, Jesus Christ is, according to the plain obvious meaning of
every expression in this text, truly, properly, independently, and essentially
God. Such are the reasonings to which the simple letter of these two verses
necessarily leads me. I own it is possible that I may have misapprehended this
awful subject, for humanum est errare et nescire; but I am not
conscious of the slightest intentional flaw in the argument. Taking, therefore,
the apostle as an uninspired man, giving his own view of the Author of the
Christian religion, it appears, beyond all controversy, that himself believed
Christ Jesus to be God; but considering him as writing under the inspiration of
the Holy Ghost, then we have, from the plain grammatical meaning of the words
which he has used, the fullest demonstration (for the Spirit of God cannot lie)
that he who died for our sins and rose again for our justification, and in
whose blood we have redemption, was GOD over all. And as God alone can give
salvation to men, and God only can remit sin; hence with the strictest propriety
we are commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus, with the assurance that we shall
be saved. Glory be to God for this unspeakable gift!"
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CHAPTER 3
CHRIST IN
THE OLD TESTAMENT
Luke 24:46: "And He said unto
them, THUS, IT IS WRITTEN, THAT THE CHRIST SHOULD SUFFER AND RISE AGAIN FROM
THE DEAD THE THIRD DAY." HOW COULD THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST ON
THE THIRD DAY BE WRITTEN WHEN PREMILLENNIALIST TELL US THAT NOT EVEN GOD KNEW
ABOUT THE REJECTION AND DEATH OF CHRIST? YET, CHRIST SPEAKS OF IT REPEATEDLY
AND REPEATEDLY SAYS IT WAS WRITTEN. GOD, CHRIST AND THE PROPHETS DID KNOW,
WHICH MAKES NOT POSSIBLE THE CLAIM OF PREMILLENNIALIST THAT GOD DID INTEND TO
RESTORE THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL AT THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST BUT AGAINST HIS
WILL GOD HAD TO PUT IT OFF BECAUSE THE JEWS REJECTED HIM AND PUT HIM TO DEATH.
There are many prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament. Prophecies about:
1. The birth of
Christ. Genesis 3:15; Galatians 4:4
2. The lineage
of Christ. Genesis 49:10; Luke 3:33
3. Christ was
the prophet to come. Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Acts 3:20-22
4. The betrayal
of Christ. Psalms 41:9; Luke 22:47-48
5. Christ being
sold for thirty pieces of silver. Zechariah 11:11-12; Matthew 26:15;
27:1-10
6. The death of
Christ. Zechariah 12:10; John 10:27
7. The
resurrection of Christ. Psalms 16:10; Luke 14:7 Acts 2:25-28
8. Christ would
be a priest and king to the church, not to Israel, not the king of only one
earthly nation for only the lifetime of one person. Psalms 110:4; Hebrews
5:5-6
It is repeatedly said the prophets
knew beforehand and wrote of the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ,
yet Millennialist say not so, not God or the prophets knew. "For I
delivered unto your first of all that which also I received: THAT CHRIST DIED
FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES; AND THAT HE WAS BURIED; AND THAT HE
HAS BEEN RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES" [1
Corinthians 15:3-4]. The scriptures Paul was speaking of was the Old
Testament scriptures. How was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus
"according to the scriptures" if not even God foreknow about it?
Psalms 22:1; 16-18: "My God, my
God, why have You forsaken me...They pierced My hands and My
feet...They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast
lots." Psalms 69:21: "They also give Me gall for My food,
and for My thirst they give Me vinegar to drink."
Psalms 2: "Why do the nations
rage, and the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against
his anointed, saying, let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords
from us. He that sits in the heavens will laugh: The Lord will have them in
derision. Then will he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore
displeasure: yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of
the decree: Jehovah said unto me, You are my son; This day have I
begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations (footnote: Gentiles)
for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your
possession."
1. Acts 4:24-25
quotes this Psalm and applied it to the first coming of Christ.
2. Acts 13:33
applied it to the resurrection of Christ, not to His second coming and the
Millennium.
3. Hebrews 1:5
and [4] Hebrews 5:5 both quote Psalms 2:7 as having been fulfilled. Verse 8
shows the worldwide nature of the Kingdom of Heaven, all who will
believe.
Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name IMMANUEL (God with
us)." "Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, behold, the virgin shall be
with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name IMMANUEL
(God with us)" [Matthew 2:22-23: Luke 1:26-35].
Isaiah 9:6-7: "For unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his
shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, MIGHTY GOD,
EVERLASTING FATHER, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to
establish it, and to uphold it with righteousness from henceforth, even
forever."
Isaiah 53: "Who has believed
our message? And to whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he grew up
before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no
form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we
should desire him. He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was
despised; and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But
he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and
Jehovah has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he
was afflicted he opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and as a sheep that before its shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By
oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among
them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the
transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? And they made his grave
with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet, it pleased Jehovah to
bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and
shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant
justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because
he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet
he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
THIS CHAPTER OF ISAIAH IS A DEATH BLOW TO THE MILLENNIUM TEACHING THAT CHRIST
WAS TO RESTORE THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL, BUT BECAUSE THE JEWS REJECTED CHRIST AND
PUT HIM TO DEATH, RESTORING ISRAEL AND THE KINGDOM WAS PUT OFF UNTO THE SECOND
COMING. It is quoted and applied to Jesus as being fulfilled in Christ by six
people in the New Testament.
1. By the
apostle John in John 12:38
2. By the
apostle Paul in Romans 10:16
3. By the
apostle Matthew in Matthew 8:17
4. By the
apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:22
5. By Philip in
Acts 8:32-38
6. By Luke in
Luke 22:37
Millennialist tell us that Christ
came to establish a temporal kingdom of Israel but did not establish it because
the Jews rejected him, but He will establish it when He comes a second time.
YET, THEY TELL US CHRIST WAS REJECTED BECAUSE HE DID NOT ESTABLISH THE TEMPORAL
KINGDOM OF ISRAEL HE CAME TO ESTABLISH, WHICH WAS THE VERY KIND OF KINGDOM THE
JEWS WERE LOOKING FOR. Which way was it? It could not be both ways. According
to Millennialist, He came to establish the kind of kingdom they were looking
for and wanted, but they rejected Him because of it. If He came to establish
the kingdom of Israel the Jews were looking for, why did they reject Him?
PreMillennialist now teach the same error the Jews believed, that the Christ
was to set up an earthly kingdom of Jews. If Christ were just a man, as many
Millennialist tell us he was, would the kingdom He set up of Jews has lasted
any longer then the kingdom David set up? What would have happened to the
kingdom after His death? The Jews would have had an earthly kingdom, but what
would have happened to each Jew after his or her death? IF THE JEWS HAD NOT
REJECTED CHRIST, HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PUT TO DEATH. IF CHRIST HAD NOT BEEN
RESURRECTED, THERE WOULD BE NO RESURRECTION FOR ANYONE, NO RESURRECTION FOR JEW
OR GENTILE. DID SALVATION AND ETERNAL LIFE COME BECAUSE OF SOMETHING GOD DID
NOT FORESEE?
1 Corinthians 10:3-4: "And did
all eat the same spiritual food; and did all drink the same spiritual drink:
for they drink of a spiritual rock that followed them: AND THE ROCK WAS
CHRIST." "The Christ" footnote in American Standard Version. "The
Anointed One" in the Christian Bible. Or as most PreMillennialist would
say, "The Messiah." The point Paul was making is that the Corinthians
thought that the relationship they had with God was guaranteed because they
believed Christ and He would look out for them, but he points out to them that
the Jews had the very same privileges, that Christ was looking out for
them, but many of them fell in the wilderness for God was not pleased with
them. This clearly shows the preexistence of "the Messiah," and
that the Messiah (Christ) accompanied the Jews all through the forty years in
the wilderness. "WE MUST NOT PUT CHRIST TO THE TEST, AS SOME OF THEM DID,
and were destroyed by serpents" [1 Corinthians 10:9 New Revised
Standard Version]. "NOR LET US TEMPT CHRIST, AS SOME OF THEM ALSO TEMPTED" [New
King James Version]. Verse 9, "Neither let us tempt Christ."
Adam Clarke: "Christ: this was
the Rock that followed them, and ministered to them; and this view of the
subject is rendered more probably by what is said 1 Corinthians 10:9, that they
tempted Christ, and were destroyed by serpents...that Christ is intended by the
spiritual rock that followed them: and that it was he, not the rock, that did
follow or accompany the Israelites in the wilderness. This was the angel of
God's presence who was with the Church in the wilderness, to whom our fathers
would not obey, as St. Stephen says, Acts 7:38,39...And this affords no mean
proof that the person who is called Yehovah in the Old Testament, is called
Christ in the New. By tempting Christ is meant disbelieving the providence and
goodness of God; and presuming to prescribe to him how he should send them the
necessary supplies, and of what kind they should be." Notes on 1
Corinthians 10:1-9.
Isaiah 6:1-10; John 12:41:
"Jesus" in John 12:41 is the "Jehovah" of Isaiah 6:1-10.
Albert Barnes says, "In the prophecy, Isaiah is said expressly to have
seen JEHOVAH, Ver. 1, and in ver. 5: 'Mine eyes have seen the king, JEHOVAH of
hosts.' By his glory is meant the manifestation of him, the shechinah, or
visible cloud that was a representation to God, and that rested over
the mercy-seat. This was regarded as equivalent to seeing God; and John
here expressly applies this to the Lord Jesus Christ. For he is not affirming
that the people did not believe in God, but is assigning the reason why they
believe not on Jesus Christ as the Messiah. The whole discourse and
illustration has respect to the Lord Jesus, and the natural construction of the
passage requires us to refer it to him. John affirms that it was the glory of
Messiah that Isaiah saw, and yet Isaiah affirms that it was JEHOVAH. And from
this, the inference if irresistible that John regarded Jesus as the Jehovah,
whom Isaiah saw. The name Jehovah is never in the Scriptures applied to a man,
or an angel, or to any creature. It is the peculiar, incommunicable name of
God. So great was the reverence of the Jews for that name that they would not
even pronounce it. This passage is, therefore, conclusive proof that Christ is
equal with the Father" Barnes' Notes on John 12:41. Adam Clarke says,
"It appears evident from this passage, that the glory which the prophet
saw was the glory of Jehovah; John, therefore, saying here that it was the
glory of Jesus, shows that he considered Jesus to be Jehovah."
Isaiah 11:10: "And it shall
come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse that stands for an ensign of
the people, UNTO HIM SHALL THE GENTILES SEEK; and his resting place shall be
glorious." Romans 15:12: "And again, Isaiah says, 'There shall
be the root of Jesse, and he that arises to rule over the Gentiles; on him
shall the Gentiles hope.'" It is now when Christ is ruling over both Jews
and Gentiles in the church that Isaiah said the Gentiles shall seek Him,
therefore, God knew long before about both the rejection of Christ and about
the church.
Isaiah 40:3: "The voice of one
that cries, 'Prepare you in the wilderness the way of JEHOVAH; make level
in the desert a highway for our GOD.'" In both Matthew 3:3 and Mark 1:3,
John the Baptist says this was spoken of Jesus; therefore, JESUS is the JEHOVAH
and GOD of Isaiah 40:3.
Psalms 45:6; Psalms 102 - Hebrews
1:6-12: "And let all the angels of God worship HIM...but of the Son he
says 'Your throne, O GOD, is forever and ever.'" Would God command the angels
to worship someone who was just a man, just a created being, when throughout
the Bible we are taught not to worship a man or any created being or thing? THE
FACT THAT GOD SAID WORSHIP HIM AND HE IS CALLED "GOD" IN BOTH THE
GREEK AND THE HEBREW (PSALMS 45:6) PROVE THAT HE IS NOT A CREATED BEING. But,
the writer of Hebrews does not stop. Speaking of Jesus he says, "You Lord,
in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
works of your hand: they shall perish; but you continue: and they all shall wax
old a does a garment: and as a mantle shall you roll them up, as a garment, and
they shall be changed; but you are the same, and your years shall not
fail" (A quotation from Psalms 102:25-27). A clear statement that Christ made
everything that has been made, and that He is eternal. PSALMS 102 IS A PRAYER
TO GOD, IN IT GOD IS PRAISED (see verse one). It is addressed to Jehovah,
"BUT YOU, O JEHOVAH, WILL ABIDE FOREVER; And Your memorial name to all
generations" [102:12 American Standard Version]. "For He has looked
down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did JEHOVAH behold the
earth" [102:19]. "I said, O MY GOD, take me not away in the
midst of my days: your years are throughout all generations. Of old you did lay
the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of your hands. They
shall perish, but you shall endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a
garment; as a garment shall you change them, and they shall be changed: but you
are the same, and your years shall have no end" [Psalms 102:24-27]. The
earth came from nothing and will go back to nothing, but God remains the same.
We learn from the writer of Hebrews that this is speaking of the Lord Jesus. He
is speaking of Jesus the Son of the Father [Hebrews 1:1-14]. In Hebrews 1:10-12
he quotes Psalms 102:25-27 and applied it to Christ. "And You, LORD, in
the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
works of your hands: they shall perish; but you continues: and they all shall
wax old as does a garment: and as a mantle shall you roll them up, as a
garment, and they shall be changed: but you are the same, and your years shall
not fail" [Hebrews 1:10-12]. The Hebrew writer takes this prayer, which is
a prayer to God and applied it to Christ. If Christ were just a created being,
this would be blasphemy.
Psalms 110 - Matthew 22:43-44:
"What think you of the Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, the son
of David. He said unto them, How then does David in the spirit call him Lord,
saying, 'The Lord said unto my Lord, set you on my right hand, till I put your
enemies underneath your feet?" The question is how can the Christ be both
David's Lord and David's son. They believed the Christ would be born of the
seed of David and reign over them. How then could He be David's Lord when He
would be born long after the death of David? They could not answer Him. Those
that believe Christ did not preexist before His birth must answer the question
the Pharisees could not answer; the question that made them not dare ask Him
any more questions [Matthew 22:46]. Neither can anyone that believes Christ did
not preexist before His birth answer it.
Isaiah 40:3: "A voice is
calling, 'Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert
a highway for our GOD.'" Both Matthew and Mark say this was spoken about
John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Jesus ("a highway for our
God") [Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3].
Micah 5:2: "From
you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth
are from long ago, FROM THE DAYS OF ETERNITY" New American Standard Bible.
["Have been from of old, FROM EVERLASTING" King James Version].
Christ existed from eternity, not as Millennialist say, "Only from
His birth."
"THE
ANGEL OF JEHOVAH"
"THE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH"
appeared frequently in the Old Testament, and is called, "angel of
Jehovah," "Jehovah," and "God." He possesses
characteristics that can only belong to deity, and he accepted worship, which
created angels did not [Revelation 22:8-9]. He is called "God" or
"Jehovah" a number of times, see Genesis 16:7-13, 22:11-18; 31:13;
48:14; Exodus 3:2-22; [Joshua 5:13-15 and Judges 6:13-24] Judges 2:1-3;
Zechariah 3:11; [Genesis 32:30 and Hosea 12:4-5].
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Hagar:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Abraham:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Jacob:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Joshua:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Judah when under the leadership
of Joshua:
1. "THE
ANGEL OF JEHOVAH...said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you
unto the land which I swore unto your fathers" [Judges 2:1]. Exodus
20:2 says, "I AM JEHOVAH YOUR GOD, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt."
2. "THE
ANGEL OF JEHOVAH...said... I will never break my covenant with you." In
Leviticus 26:44-45 it is JEHOVAH who said He will never break HIS covenant He
made with their ancestors.
3. THE ANGEL OF
JEHOVAH said, "I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall
be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you." But
in Joshua 23:13 it was JEHOVAH that said He would not drive them out and they
would be a snare and a thorn to them. The three persons in the Godhead are one
God. The "ANGEL OF JEHOVAH" is one of the Godhead, therefore, is God.
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Gideon:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Muons wife:
Jesus said, "Before Abraham was
born, I AM" [John 8:58]. "The origin and meaning of the name Jehovah
are especially brought out in relation to Israel. When Moses at the burning
bush says to God: 'Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall
say unto them, The Elohim of your fathers has sent me unto you; and they shall
say unto me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?' And the Lord said
to Moses, 'I am that I am.' The words could be rendered, 'I will be that I will
be,' and often the word is used in that sense, 'I will be with thee.' Its
origin is exactly the same as that of Jehovah--being, existence--and certainly
denotes the One who will always be: personal, continuous, absolute
existence" Nathan J. Stone, "Names of God," page 20. In Exodus
3:13-15 "The angel of Jehovah" says he is "I am that I am."
MOST CONSERVATIVE BIBLE SCHOLARS AGREE THAT THE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH THAT IS USED
OFTEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT IS CHRIST.
There are other passages where the
Angel of Jehovah is found, but these are more than enough to show
Christ was working throughout the Old Testament. See Judges 13:1-22;
Genesis 48:15-16; 32:28; 32:24; Exodus 23:20-21; 32:34; Isaiah 63:8-9. The
angel of Jehovah is God, but He is distinguished from God the father, yet they
are one God.
WHO IS TO BE
WORSHIPPED?
THE BIBLE CLEARLY TEACHES THAT
IDOLATRY IS A SIN. IT MAY BE THE MOST CONDEMNED SIN IN THE BIBLE. The word of
God is clear that only God is to be worshiped. Not other gods, idols, nothing
in His creation, images, saints, angels, or Satan [Matthew 4:10]. Yet the Angel
of Jehovah accepted worship, which created angels did not [Revelation 22:8-9].
Christ is WORSHIPPED through out the New Testament by many with no rebuked.
"Worthy is the Lamb that has
been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might and honor,
and glory, and blessing. And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on
the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things are in them,
heard I saying, Unto him that sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the
blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever. And
the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and
WORSHIPPED" [Revelation 5:12-14].
The Bible is clear in it's teaching that only God is to be
worshipped [Exodus 34:14; Psalms 81:9; 97:7; Isaiah 42:8; 48:11; Matthew 4:10;
Luke 4:8; Revelation 19:10]. Jesus is worshipped. If He is not deity, to
worship Him would be a sin and His accepting worship would make Him a sinner.
If Millennialist were right when they teach He is not deity, the New Testament
must be thrown out for it is a fraud, and Christ must be completely rejected.
"Thus says JEHOVAH, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, JEHOVAH of
hosts; I am the first, and the last; and besides me there is no God."
Isaiah 44:6 is quoted and applied to Christ in Revelation 1:17.
THE OLD AND
NEW COVENANTS
"Behold, the days come, SAYS
JEHOVAH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the
house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of
Egypt...But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after these days, SAYS JEHOVAH: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in
their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, Know Jehovah: for they shall all know me, from the least of
them unto the greatest of them, says Jehovah: for I will forgive their
iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more"[Jeremiah 31:31-34]. It
was Jehovah that said He would take away the first. The writer of Hebrews
applied this to Christ. "Then said I. Lo, I am come (In the roll of the
book it is written of me) To do your will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifices and
offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you would not,
neither had pleasure therein (the which are offered according to the law), then
has HE [Christ] said, Lo, I am come to do your will. HE [Christ] takes away the
first, that HE [Christ] may establish the second. By which will we have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all"[Hebrews 9:7-18]. It was Christ that took away the first covenant. A
man could not take away a covenant made by God. "We have such a high
priest, [Christ]...But now has he [Christ] obtained a ministry the more
excellent, by so much as HE [Christ] is also the mediator of a better covenant,
which has been enacted upon better promises. For if the first covenant had been
faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second. For finding fault
with them, HE [Christ] says, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I
[Christ] will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah; not according to the covenant that I [Christ] made with their fathers
in the day that I [Christ] took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the
land of Egypt; for they continued not in my covenant, and I [Christ] regarded
them not, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I [Christ] will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I [Christ] will put
my laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I [Christ] write them:
and I [Christ] WILL BE TO THEM A GOD, and they shall be to me a people"
[Hebrews 8:1-13]. "For where a testament (covenant) is, there must of
necessity be the death of him that made it" [Hebrews 9:16]. It was by His
death that the Lord made the covenant we are now under. "Lo, I [Christ] am
come to do your will. HE [Christ] takes away the first, that he [Christ] may
establish the second. By which will [covenant] we have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest indeed stands day by day ministering and offering often times
the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins; but HE [Christ], when
HE [Christ] had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right
hand of God"[Hebrews 10:9-13]. It was Christ (called "Jehovah"
in Jeremiah 31:31-34) that took away the first covenant and made a new
covenant. No man or angel could have taken the first covenant away, and no man
of angel could make a new covenant for us. Jesus and God is one God. "I
and the Father are one" [John 10:30]. "That they may be one, even as
we are...that they may all be one; even as you, father, are in me, and I in
you...that they may be one, even as we are one" [John 17:11-22]. We may
not be able to understand the mystery of how one God is made up of three
persons, but the Bible clearly teaches that the three are one. Nor can we
understand the great mystery of how a husband and wife are one flesh [Ephesians
5:31-32].
TWO
JEHOVAH'S IN ONE VERSE
"Thus says (first)
JEHOVAH, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, (second) JEHOVAH of
Hosts; I am the first, and the last; AND BESIDES ME THERE IS NO GOD (first and
second Jehovah together)" [Isaiah 44:6]. "And besides me there is
no God" is applied to both Jehovah's.
In the New Testament, God the Father
calls the Son "God." "But of the Son [Christ] He [God the
Farther] says, YOUR THRONE, O GOD [Christ], is forever and ever" [Hebrews
1:8; Psalms 45:6]. In this passage, God the Father calls Christ
"God."
A FEW PREMILLENNIALIST MAY BELIEVE IN THE PREEXISTENCE AND DEITY
OF CHRIST, BUT THE PREDOMINATE BELIEF AMONG THEM IS THAT HE DID NOT EXIST
BEFORE HIS BIRTH. THEY HAVE DENIED THAT CHRIST IS NOW OR EVER HAVE BEEN EQUAL
WITH GOD AND DENIED THAT CHRIST HAD ANY PART IN MAKING THE EARTH AND MAN. With
them, Satan has won. They have denied Christ.
1. If Jesus is
not God, all that worship Him are idolaters.
2. If Jesus is
God, all that say He was just a good man, just the man that was chosen by God
over all other man, have they not denied the Christ? Is Premillennial doctrines
not Antichrist?
o Any person
who worships a man as if He were God, is an idolater and blasphemer
o Any person
who denies the Christ is Antichrist [1 John 2:22-23].
o Both are a
sin that will bring death to those who believe and teach it? Is there anyway
that the one that is such a sinner as either of the two would be to be
acceptable to God?
o If one
person can believe Christ is God and another person believes Christ to be only
a man, a created being, and both are acceptable to God; is there anything that
any person can believe and not be acceptable to God; or is there anything that
a person does not believe that will make him or her not be acceptable to
God?
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CHAPTER 4
CHRIST AS
REVILED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
"Behold, the virgin shall be
with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which
translated means, 'God with us'" [Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6].
"And Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the
palsy, Son, your sins are forgiven. But there were certain of the scribes
sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man thus
speak? He blasphemes: who can forgive sins but one, even God?"
[Mark 2:5-7].
"For this cause; therefore, the
Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the Sabbath, but
also called God his own father, making Himself equal with God"
[John 5:18].
"But the man from whom the
demons were gone out prayed him that he might be with him: but he sent him
away, saying, Return to your house, and declare how great things GOD
has done for you. And he went his way, publishing throughout the whole
city how great things JESUS had done for him" [Luke 8:28-39].
"Christ Jesus: who, existing
in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in
the likeness of man; and being found in fashion as a man. And being found in appearance
as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross" [Philippians 2:5-8].
"Looking for the blessed
hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus
Christ" [Titus 2:13].
"But of the Son he says Your
throne, O God, is forever and ever" [Hebrews 1:8]
"By the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus
Christ" [2 Peter 1:1]
Jesus said unto John, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of
water of life freely. He that over comes shall inherit these things: and
I will be his God, and he shall be my son" [Revelation 21:6-7].
"And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of
all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities; all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before
all things, and in Him all things hold together" [Colossians 1:15-17].
This passage tells up four things about Jesus.
1. JESUS IS ONE
WITH THE FATHER. "And He is the image of the invisible God." Also
Hebrews 1:3.
2. JESUS
CREATED ALL THINGS IN THE HEAVENS AND ON EARTH. "For BY HIM ALL THINGS
WERE CREATED, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; ALL THINGS HAVE BEEN CREATED BY
HIM AND FOR HIM." "By faith we understand that the worlds have been
framed BY THE WORD OF GOD so that what is seen has not been made out of things
which appear" [Hebrews 11:3]. Also, Psalms 33:9; 148:5.
3. JESUS WAS
BEFORE ALL THINGS IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH. "And He is before all
things."
4. JESUS
UPHOLDS THE UNIVERSE. "In Him all things hold together." Jesus is
"upholding all things by the word of his power" [Hebrews 1:3].
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-
JESUS AS
REVILED IN JOHN'S GOSPEL
THE PERSON
WHO CAME FROM GOD AND RETURNED TO GOD
The theme of John's Gospel is Jesus
who is God, was with God before the world was, came from God, made eternal life
available to man, and went back to God. One cannot believe this Gospel and
believe the view of many Millennialist that Jesus was just a man and
did not exist before His birth.
JESUS THE WORD WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD - JESUS, THE WORD,
WAS GOD- HE MADE ALL THING
EXISTED BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS BORN
EQUAL WITH GOD - ONE WITH GOD
JESUS IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN GOD
JESUS MADE HIMSELF OUT TO BE GOD
JESUS HAS LIFE IN HIMSELF
JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE-THE POWER TO GIVE AND SUSTAIN LIFE AND
RAISE THE DEAD
JESUS WAS SENT BY GOD FROM HEAVEN - HAS SEEN GOD
JESUS CAME DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN - DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN
JESUS ASCENDING BACK TO HEAVEN WHERE HE WAS BEFORE
JESUS GOING TO HEAVEN TO PREPARE A PLACE OF US IN HEAVEN
"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were
not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself,
that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:2-3].
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JESUS AS
REVILED IN HEBREWS
"God, after He spoke long ago
to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last
days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through
[through Christ] whom also He made the world. And He [Christ] is the radiance
of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things
by the word of His power...You, Lord, (Jesus) in the beginning did lay the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; they will
perish, but You remain; and they all will become old as a garment, and as a
mantle, You will roll them up; as a garment they will also be changed. But, You
are the same, and Your years will not come to an end" [Hebrews
1:1-12].
It is clear that the writer of Hebrews thought Christ was more
than just a man. In Hebrews Christ is:
1. Greater than
the angels [Hebrews 1:7]
2. His throne
(kingdom) is forever and ever [Hebrews 1:8]
3. Christ made
the earth and the heavens [Hebrews 1:10; Psalms 102:25-27]
4. The earth and
the heavens shall come to an end, but Christ will continue [Hebrews 1:11-12]
5. Christ
upholds all things by the power of His word [Hebrews 1:3]
6. Christ is
the very image of God's substance [Hebrews 1:3]
7. Brought the
power of the devil to nothing by His death [Hebrews 2:4]
8. Christ is
over His house, and we (the church) are His house [Hebrews 3:6]
9. He is our
great high priest who has passed through the heavens [Hebrews 4:14]
10. He is the
author of eternal salvation to all that obeys Him [Hebrews 5:9]
11. He is a
priest "after the power of an endless life" [Hebrews 7:16]
12. He
"abides forever" and is able to save them that come to Him [Hebrews
7:25-26]
13. He is the
mediator of a better covenant [Hebrews 8:6]
14. He is high
priest of the good thing to come, a greater and more perfect tabernacle not
made with man's hands, not of this creation (not of this earth) [Hebrews 9:11]
15. He entered
into Heaven [Hebrews 9:24]
16. Through
Christ we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken [Hebrews 12:28]
17. "Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever" [Hebrews 13:8]
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CHAPTER 5
THE NATURE
OF CHRIST
WHEN HE
"BECAME FLESH, AND DWELLED AMONG US" [John
1:14]
(1) Jesus Christ, the God who became man
(2) Jesus Christ, the God who died my death for my sin
THE NATURE
OF CHRIST NOW AND FOR ALL ETERNITY
(1) Jesus Christ, the God who lives
THE CHRIST
JOHN SAW
In Revelation 1:12-18 John sees a
vision of Christ. John, who had been with Christ for three and a half years,
saw "The Lord of Glory." The glory, the awesomeness of the grandeur
was so overpowering that John was so awe struck by His glory that John
"fell at His feet as a dead man." John saw Christ in His glory as He
is now, not as John had seen Him when He was "like His brethren in all
things" [Hebrews 2:17].
1. John had
seen Him on earth when He was "like His brethren in all things"
[Hebrews 2:17].
2. John sees a
vision of Christ in the grandeur He now has in Heaven [Revelation
1:12-18].
WHAT KIND OF
BODY DOES CHRIST NOW HAVE?
"The first man was of earth,
formed from dust, the second is from heaven" [1 Corinthians 15:47 The New
American Bible].
1. "The
first man Adam became A LIVING SOUL (psukee)" [1 Corinthians
15:45]. Nehphesh in Old Testament, psukee in New Testament. A living
breathing being of this earth.
o Adam was
"that which is natural" Verse 46.
¤ Adam was "of the earth, earthy" Verse 47.
¤ "As we have borne the image of the earthy" Verse 49
Which is "A natural body" Verse 44.
2. "The
last Adam became A LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT" [1 Corinthians 15:45].
o Christ is
"that which is spiritual" Verse 46.
o Christ is
"of heaven" Verse 47.
¤ "We shall also bear the image of the heavenly" Verse 49
Which is a "spiritual body" Verse 44.
Ephesians 1:20-23 "Which
he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit his
right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and
power, and dominion, and every name that is named."
A RED WARNING FLAG: In the thousands
of web pages and the many books I have read, I have found that most who use
"God's Messiah," "God's anointed one," "Yahweh,"
or some of the other names they use in the place of Christ Jesus most always
give Him a lower place than "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in he beginning with God. All
things were made through Him; and without Him was not anything made that has been
made" [John 1:1-3]. Some make Christ be not much more than a glorified
man. Many make Him be a created being, not the creator. A few teach that Satan
was at one time God's number one created being, but when he sinned and was cast
out of Heaven, Christ took his place. Most make Him be something more than a
man as he is now but less than God. THERE ARE SOME WHO USE NAMES LIKE
"GOD'S MESSIAH" TO MAKE CHRIST BE LESS THAN HE "WHO, EXISTING IN
THE FORM OF GOD, COUNTED NOT THE BEING ON AN EQUALITY WITH GOD A THING TO BE
GRASPED" [Philippians 2:6-11]. Much of the writing by PreMillennialist
writers are unclear and hard to understand, most likely because there are many
versions of the PreMillennialist doctrines, but if I understand them, many of
them do not believe Christ has always existed or that He is equal with God.
They seem to be saying that He came into being at His birth and is now only
temporary in Heaven, and that when He returns to earth, He will always be on
earth with a body of this earth.
NOTE: "Messiah" is a
Biblical name. Christ is the Greek translation of Messiah [John 1:41], but look
out when something like "God's anointed one," "Yahweh," or
"God's Messiah" is used. This writer believes the PreMillennialist
belief to be one of, if not the most Antichrist teaching in the world, but
their Antichrist teaching is being done in the name of God and in a way that
will make many believe they are hearing the truth about Christ; that He is not
God, but just a man. Satan does not care if you believe Christ is the greatest
man that ever lived and that He is the most chosen man by God, JUST AS LONG AS
YOU BELIEVE HE IS JUST A MAN FOR THEN YOU HAVE DENIED THE CHRIST, THEREFORE,
YOU BELONG TO SATAN, NOT TO GOD. Those who believe this Antichrist teaching
cannot obey the gospel; they have rejected Jesus and made Him into a man. No
man could save us from the wages of our sin, death. To deny Christ is to take
away all hope of eternal life. If you believe the view of Christ, which many
PreMillennialist have, Satan has won the victory. It does not matter that you
believe any other part of the Bible for Satan has won. You will have denied
Christ. "But there arose false prophets also among the people, AS AMONG
YOU ALSO THERE SHALL BE FALSE TEACHERS, WHO SHALL PRIVILY BRING IN DESTRUCTIVE
HERESIES, DENYING EVEN THE MASTER THAT BOUGHT THEM, BRINGING UPON THEMSELVES
SWIFT DESTRUCTION" [2 Peter 2:1]. PreMillennialist make the Christ that
bought them with His blood that they may have life to be only a man.
Paul often used "Lord" ["Kurios" in the Greek
is translated from "Yahweh - Jehovah" in the Hebrew]. In the Old
Testament Yahweh - Jehovah was one who had no beginning, one who has always
existed.
"Premillennialism is no barren
speculation - useless though true, and innocuous though false. It is a school
of Scripture interpretation; in impinges upon and affects some of the most
commanding points of the Christian faith; and, when suffered to work its
unimpeded way, it stops not till it has pervaded with it own genius the entire
system of one's theology, and the whole tone of his spiritual character,
constructing, I had almost said, a world of its own...he yet sees things
through a medium of his own, and finds every thing instinct with the life which
this doctrine has generated with him" David Brown, "Christ's Second
Coming" Page 8, 1858.
PREMILLENNIAL
DOCTRINES
THE
PREMILLENNIAL TEACHING ABOUT CHRIST, FROM GOD OR SATAN?
There are divisions in the
Millennium beliefs. Most PreMillennialist believe it was prophesied that Christ
was to set up an earthly kingdom on the throne of David and reign from
Jerusalem, but because the Jews rejected Him the establishment of the kingdom
was put off unto after His second coming and the church was established
instead. They believe the Jews will be restored, and the temple rebuilt and
temple worship restored.
Some PreMillennialist believe Christ did not exist unto
His birth. Other PreMillennialist believe Christ existed equal with God before
His birth, but He was raised a man and He is now a man at the right hand of God
and will be a man when He returns to rule the earth and will forever be a man.
Some PreMillennialist believe
Christ, who they do not call Christ, but "God's Messiah" will rule
the earth from Jerusalem on the throne of David, and that the body we now have
will live forever on this earth, and some that we will have the same the body
that we now have but that it will be changed in such a way that it is not
really the body we now have and the earth will not really be the earth that we
now live on but a new earth.
To many, to put this body off and put on a new "spiritual
body," and move from the earth that they know, to a place they know
nothing about what it is like is a scaring and frightening thing. This
version of PreMillennialist beliefs say no, you can keep the body you now
have but it will be greatly improved. It will not have any of the bad things
that many bodies now have, and it will live forever on this earth that you
know, but it will be a greatly improved earth. Satan says you can have all
this; all you have to do is to believe Christ is just a man, greater than any
other man, but still just a man who had no preexistence before His birth.
YOU CANNOT BELIEVE THE VIEW OF
MANY MILLENNIALIST ON THE PREEXISTENCE AND DEITY OF CHRIST. THEY DENY
THAT CHRIST IS NOW OR EVER HAVE BEEN EQUAL WITH GOD. MANY DENY THAT CHRIST HAD
ANY PART IN MAKING THE EARTH AND MAN. Not only must the preexistence and deity
of Christ be denied, but many versions of Premillennial doctrines are
also dependence of the earthly body being raised and existing forever.
"Flesh and blood" must inherit the kingdom of God. Though some
PreMillennialist changes the body and also changes the earth; they say the
earthly body that will be resurrected will be changed to such an extent that no
one now would know their own body and the earth changed to such an extent that
no one would know it to be the same earth, yet they say this body we now have
must be raised and live forever in the kingdom of God on this earth. With some,
the change of the body or the change of the earth does not seem to be as great
as it is with others, BUT IT MUST BE THIS EARTHLY BODY OF FLESH AND BLOOD.
WITHOUT IT, THE WHOLE OF PREMILLENNIAL ORDER FALLS. What body we will have
in the resurrection is discussed in "Unconditional Immortality Or
Resurrection Of The Dead" by William Robert West, ISBN: 0-7414-4620-0.
What a person thinks about Jesus
affects: (1) Whether or not they should worship Him as God, whether they should
trust and obey Him. (2) Whether or not a person who does not believe in the
divinity of Jesus is a Christian or not a Christian. "What we think about
Jesus Christ affects not only questions surrounding the subsistence of the
Godhead, but it also delves into entirely relevant issues, such as whether or
not one should trust, obey and worship Christ as God, the nature and efficacy
of His atoning offices, as well as what constitutes a Church and what are its
rites. He who believes in the divinity Jesus Christ is Christian; he who does
not, (whatever his profession), is a mere Desist. Without the Divinity, the
Bible is, 'the drama of Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet omitted.'"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
Chapter 6
THE NATURE
OF MAN
(1) THE NATURE OF MAN FROM CREATION TO THE RESURRECTION
(2) THE NATURE OF MAN [THOSE WHO ARE NOT IN CHRIST] AFTER THE
JUDGMENT. This is discussed in another chapter of this book on "The Second
Death."
(3) THE NATURE OF MAN [THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST] FOR ALL ETERNITY
AFTER THE RESURRECTION "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which (from
Heaven) also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will
transform the body of our humble state (This earthly body of flesh and blood,
which "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" will not be an earthly
body) into conformity with the body of His glory" (It will be transformed
into conformity with the body Jesus now has in Heaven) [Philippians 3:20-21].
Just as we now have the right bodies for this earth, we will have the right
bodies for Heaven. The bodies we now have will be transformed to be like His
glorious body now is. The resurrected body Christ had for the forty days He was
on earth after His resurrection is sometime read into this passage, but it says
nothing about Christ in the forty days before His ascension, but Christ now in
Heaven where our citizenship is, that we will be transformed from this earthly
body, "the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His
glory," the glory Christ now has in Heaven, the glory He had before He
became a man, the glory Christ was speaking of in John 17:5 "And now,
Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you
before the world was."
One of the favorite questions of
those who do not believe the saved will be in Heaven is, "An eternity in
heaven doing what?" Turn this question around and it is, "An eternity
on earth doing what?" We are not told what we will be doing in Heaven,
therefore, cannot know. The God that could make both Heaven and earth will have
something for us to do. We may ask, "What are the angles doing and what
will they be doing for all eternity?" Heaven is much greater then the
earth, therefore, there will be much more to do in Heaven than on earth. Though
it is asked often, there is no point to the question. What do they think they
are proving by it? This ("An eternity in heaven doing what?") is an
argument that is made when the person making it has no scriptural argument. It
is an argument made entirely from human wisdom, not from the Bible.
A NEW BODY, NOT THE SAME BODY THAT
WAS PUT INTO THE EARTH AT DEATH, NOT A RENEWED OR RESTORED EARTHLY BODY LIKE
ADAM. "But someone will say, 'How are the dead raised? And with what kind of
body do they come?' You fool! That you sow, you do not sow the body
which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
But, God gives it a body just as He wished...So also is the resurrection of the
dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is
sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised
in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body"
[1 Corinthians 15:35-44]. The body of Adam was a natural body from the day God
made him. He had a body made from the earth and for life on earth, not a
spiritual body. Now in this lifetime we are like Adam, a natural body made from
this earth. We are now in the image of Adam, an earthly being, which is "a
living soul." "If there is a natural body (A body of this earth in
the image of Adam), there is also a spiritual body (A body not of this earth,
not in the image of Adam before or after he sinned)" [1 Corinthians
15:44]. "So also it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living
soul.'" (Adam became "a living soul" with his first breath, not
after his sin. He was "a living soul" from his first breath unto his
last breath. His sin did not change his being "a living soul."
"So also it is written" in Genesis 2:7 where "soul" is from
"nehphesh" and is used four times in chapter one where it is speaking
of animals being living souls before the same word is applied to Adam.)
"The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not
first, but the natural, then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth,
earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who
are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And
just as we have borne the image of the earthy, (Adam) we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly (Christ)." JUST AS WE NOW BEAR THE IMAGE OF ADAM,
NOW HAVE A NATURAL BODY (A BODY OF FLESH AND BLOOD), WE SHALL BEAR THE IMAGE OF
THE HEAVENLY (CHRIST - A SPIRITUAL BODY). MOST THAT BELIEVE IN ANY OF THE MANY
VARIATIONS OF PREMILLENNIAL BELIEFS IS THAT CHRIST WILL HAVE A FLESH AND BLOOD
BODY AND THAT HE WILL ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON THIS EARTH AND RULE
THE WORLD FROM JERUSALEM. THEY BELIEVE BOTH CHRIST AND ALL THE SAVED WILL BE ON
THIS EARTH FOR ALL ETERNITY AND WILL HAVE A FLESH AND BLOOD BODY IN THE IMAGE
OF ADAM, WHICH WILL BE RESTORED TO BE LIKE ADAM BEFORE HE SINNED. HOW COULD GOD
HAVE SAID ANY CLEARER THAT WE WILL NOT HAVE A NATURAL (EARTHLY, FLESH AND
BLOOD) BODY IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM, BUT THAT WE WILL HAVE A SPIRITUAL BODY IN THE
IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY. IF, AS MANY PREMILLENNIALIST TEACH, CHRIST WILL HAVE THE
SAME BODY ADAM HAD BEFORE HE SINNED, WHY WILL THE IMAGE OF ONE (ADAM) THAT WE
NOW HAVE, BE CHANGED TO THE IMAGE OF THE OTHER (CHRIST)? HOW CAN THOSE WHO
BELIEVE THE PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINE BELIEVE THIS PASSAGE? Do they "wrest,
as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction" [2 Peter
3:16]? Will Christ say to them, "But in vain do they worship me, teaching
as their doctrines the precepts of men"? [Matthew 15:9]. "Now
I say this, brethren, THAT FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF
GOD: (Adam was flesh and blood "a living soul" both
before and after he sinned. If we were restored to be "a living soul"
like Adam before he sinned, we would be flesh and blood and not be able to
inherit the kingdom of God if it were on this earth or if it were in Heaven) nor
does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (This earthly body is
the perishable that shall not inherit the imperishable). Behold, I
tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (The
perishable image of Adam "a living soul" will be changed to the
imperishable image of Christ, a "spiritual body") in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will
sound, and the dead be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed (not
restored). For this perishable ("a living
soul") must put on the imperishable, and this mortal (another
way of saying the same thing that this mortal "a living soul" which
is the image of Adam from his first breath to his last, from the day he was
created a flesh and blood being, from before he sinned unto his death) must put
on immortality" [1 Corinthians 15:45-54]. THIS MORTAL FLESH AND
BLOOD PERISHABLE "LIVING BEING" THAT IS THE IMAGE OF ADAM MUST BE
CHANGED TO AN IMMORTAL IMPERISHABLE SPIRITUAL BODY IN THE IMAGE OF CHRIST. How
could this one passage not be a death blow to the PreMillennialist
beliefs?
"HOW
ARE THE DEAD RAISED?
AND WITH
WHAT MANNER OF BODY DO THEY COME?"
Six comparisons that shows clearly
and beyond any doubt that the resurrection body, the body that will come out of
the grave, will be "changed" to a spiritual body and will not be this
earthly body which we now have.
The body (in the image of Adam) is but a bare grain of the body
that shall be (the image of the heavenly) [1 Corinthians 15:36-37].
MANY MANSIONS IN MY FATHER'S
HOUSE "IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ("Who is in
Heaven" Matthew 5:16; 5:45; 5:48; 6:1; 6:9; 7:21; 10:32,3: and many more) ARE
MANY MANSIONS...I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU. (Where did Christ go
to prepare a place for us? In the mansions in my Father's house in
Heaven) For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but himself
says: THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, 'SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR
ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET'" [Acts 2:34-35]. "AND IF I GO AND
PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU (A PLACE IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE IN HEAVEN), I COME AGAIN,
AND WILL RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF, THAT WHERE I AM THERE YOU MAY ALSO BE" (WITH
ME IN THE PLACE I GO TO PREPARE FOR YOU IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE IN HEAVEN) [John
14:1-3]. "But now I go unto him (unto my Father who is in
Heaven that sent me") "The word (Christ who was with
the Father in the beginning and has always been like God, a heavenly being) became
flesh, and dwelled among us" (John 1:14) [John 16:5]. He is no
longer flesh, but has now gone back to Heaven to prepare a place for the saved
and will come back for them. "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit
down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on
His throne"[Revelation 3:21]. Christ is now on His Father's throne in
Heaven where He went to prepare a place of us in His Father's house. I was told
by a PreMillennialist friend, "Jesus is now in heaven 'drawing up the
plans,' to coin a phrase, of the 'new heavens and the new earth' in what has
and will be called the 'kingdom of God,' with Messiah as its King. Jesus is
right now, along with God his Father, preparing (John 14) the kingdom
government complexities and jurisdictions and so on." A person who has a
friend that wants to go to school in Tampa says to his friend, "My father
has a house with many rooms; I will go and prepare a place for you." Did
he mean he as going to his father's house in Tampa and draw up plains for a
house and come back and build it for him in New York? Of course not, everyone
would understand that he was going to prepare a place in his father's house,
not to draw up plans and come back to earth to build it. My friend is not
willing to accept a clear and plain statement for it would make his belief not
possible. IT IS CLEAR THAT CHRIST SAID HE WAS GOING TO PREPARE US A PLACE IN
HIS FATHER'S HOUSE, NOT THAT HE WAS GOING AWAY TO DRAW UP PLAINS FOR A PLACE ON
EARTH FOR US. THIS IS A VERY WEAK TRY TO EVADE THIS PASSAGE.
PREMILLENNIALIST MAKE THREE CHANGES.
"In my Father's house ARE many mansions" [John 14:2]. This is present
tense. THE MANSIONS WERE IN HIS FATHER'S HOUSE WHEN CHRIST WAS SPEAKING. Christ
said IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE there ARE many mansions, not there WILL BE many
mansions ON EARTH after Christ comes back and makes them when He makes a
kingdom of this earth.
1. PreMillennialist
change from present tense to future tense.
2. PreMillennialist
change from many mansions in His Father's house to a kingdom on this
earth.
3. PreMillennialist
change from preparing a place in His father's house to drawing up plains for a
house on earth that is not yet built.
o Their reply
is that God "Calls those things which are not as though they were? (Romans
4:17), that God calls things which are not yet in existence as though they were
already?" It is true, that God does speak of some things as though they
now exist. Eternal life is one of them. We will not have eternal life unto
after the resurrection, but it is so sure for those who are in Christ that the
Bible speaks of it as if the Christian now has eternal life [Compare 1 John
2:25 and 1 John 511-20]. But, it is clearly evident that Christ was not
speaking of something that did not exist as though it already existed.
AN INHERITANCE...RESERVED IN HEAVEN
FOR US. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope, by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, UNTO AN INHERITANCE
INCORRUPTIBLE, AND UNDEFILED, AND THAT FADES NOT AWAY, RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR
YOU" [1 Peter 1:3-4]. It is it reserved in the place where Christ went to
prepare it for us, "in my Father's house," in Heaven. If it were
reserved in Heaven, it would do us no good if the saved will live forever on
the earth and never get to Heaven. I think Peter knew more about where it is at
than anyone does today.
OUR TREASURES ARE IN HEAVEN. "But
lay up for yourselves TREASURES IN HEAVEN, where neither moth nor rust does
consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also" [Matthew 6:20-21]. Where are
our treasures and heart to be? In the same place Christ went to prepare us a
place and the same place where our inheritance is, in Heaven, not on earth. My
PreMillennialist friend above also said to me, "'Our citizenship is in
heaven' right NOW, but just because it is up in heaven right now doesn't mean
that is where we finally go to get it! It is like our retirement is IN THE
BANK, but we are not going to retire AT THE BANK, but the money will COME OUT
OF THE BANK for us to retire (enjoy) somewhere else." Who would have
thought Heaven is a bank? Will our heart also "COME OUT OF THE BANK"?
OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN "For
OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN, whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be
conformed to the body of his glory" [Philippians 3:20-21]. If our
citizenship is in Heaven, as long as we are on this earth we are aliens and if
we remained on earth we would always be aliens.
OUR HOPE IS IN HEAVEN "Of
the hope laid up for you IN HEAVEN" [Colossians 1:5 New American Standard
Version].
SEEK THE THINGS ABOVE WHERE CHRIST
IS "If then you have been raised up with Christ, KEEP
SEEKING THE THINGS ABOVE, WHERE CHRIST IS, SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. Set
your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you
have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God; WHEN CHRIST, WHO IS OUR
LIFE, IS REVEALED, THEN YOU ALSO WILL BE REVEALED WITH HIM IN GLORY"
[Colossians 2:1-4]. Seek the things that are where Christ has gone to prepare a
place for us. A restored earth is not the thing above where Christ is, not the
things Paul said to seek.
AN ETERNAL BUILDING IN THE
HEAVENS. "For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works
for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not
at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the
things which are seen are temporal; (Is not this earth seen) but the things,
which are not seen, are eternal. For we know that if the earthly house of our
tabernacle (Our body) be dissolved (Not our bodies restored), we have a
building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens"
[2 Corinthians 4:17-5:2].
1. Christ went
to prepare us a place in His Fathers many mansions [John 14:1-3].
2. Our
inheritance is reserved in Heaven for us [1 Peter 1:3-4].
3. Our
treasures are in Heaven [Matthew 6:20-21].
4. Our
citizenship is in Heaven [Philippians 3:20-21].
5. Our hope in Heaven
[Colossians 1:5].
6. "We
have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the
heavens" [2 Corinthians 4:17-5:2].
7. "Keep
seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of
God" [Colossians 2:1-4].
8. Christ will
deliver the kingdom up to God [1 Corinthians 15:24-26].
Yet, I am told there is not one
passage in the Bible that says we will be in Heaven; that we live on this earth
in a body with flesh and bones!!! Did not Paul say, "Now this I say,
brethren, that FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD" [1
Corinthians 15:50-54]? "Now this I say, brethren, that FLESH AND BLOOD
CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD; (Our bodies in the image of Adam made for
this earth is not suitable) neither do corruption inherit incorruption (Our
bodies in the image of Adam is corruptible and cannot inherit in the heavenly
realm). Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep (Shall not die),
but we shall all be changed (All that are asleep when Christ comes and all that
are alive), in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible (In the
heavenly image of Christ, not in the corruptible image of Adam which they had
when they died). For this corruptible must put on incorruption, (This earthly
body in the image of Adam must put on incorruption, a spiritual body in the
image of Christ. Adam never had a spiritual body before or after he ate.), and
this mortal must put on immortality (This mortal body which is the body we now
have must be changed to an immortal spiritual body which will not be the body
of this earth which we now have). But, when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to
pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory" [1
Corinthians 15:50-54]. "We that are alive, that are left unto the coming
of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven (From the place where God is), with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in
Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together
with them be caught up in the clouds (To meet Him in the air and will have a
body not of this earth) to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall ever be with
the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17]. "Beloved, now we are children of
God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He
appears, we shall be like Him because we shall see His just as He is" [1
John 3:2]. We know what the image of Adam is for we now have it. His image was
flush and blood both before and after he sins, and we know that we now have his
image, a body of flesh and blood, but we do not now know what the spiritual
body in the image of Christ will be like.
"Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 15:50]. If, as they teach, the kingdom
of God will be the earth restored to be as it were before Adam sinned, Adam was
flesh and blood before he sinned, therefore, if he were restored to his sinless
state, he would still be flesh and blood and could not "inherit the
kingdom of God" If Israel were restored to be like it was in the time of
David, the Jews would still be "flesh and blood" and could not
inherit the "kingdom of God." They would also still die of old age,
not have eternal life, and their Messiah would have been just as human as was
David and he would have also lied of old age even if the Jews had not put him
to death.
Some have reversed the Bible.
THE EARTH WILL PERISH "You,
Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are
the works of your hands; THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU WILL REMAIN" [Hebrews
1:10]. "Will perish" does not mean they will be remade to be like
before Adam's sin. "Will perish" and "Will remain" are
opposite to each other, not the same. The earth will perish, come to an end,
but Christ will remain. THE QUESTION IS, HOW COULD CHRIST FOREVER RULE THE
CHURCH ON THIS EARTH IF THIS EARTH IS GOING TO PERISH, AND HOW COULD CHRIST AND
THE CHURCH REMAIN AFTER THE EARTH HAS PERISHED?
WILL BE LIKE ANGELS "The
sons of this age marry nor are given in marriage, but those who are considered
worthy to attain to that age (The age to come. Not all will be worthy to attain
to it) and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, not are given in
marriage; for neither can they die any more, FOR THEY ARE LIKE ANGELS and are
sons of God, being sons of the resurrection" [Luke 20:34-36]. Like the
angels, they will have a body suitable for that age. Not earthly being and will
no longer have a flesh and body in the image of Adam made for this earth, but a
spiritual body in the image of Christ. ANGELS HAVE NEVER HAD AN EARTHLY BODY IN
THE IMAGE OF ADAM. WHEN WE ARE LIKE THEM, HOW COULD WE HAVE EARTHLY BODIES WITH
FLESH AND BONES? That it is spiritual bodies that will be like angels is shown
by the fact that they neither marry nor are given in marriage. Adam was made of
the earth and had a flesh and blood body and Eve were made from his body before
their sin, they never had a spiritual body or bodies like the angels had long
before this earth was made. To have a body like Adam before he sinned would be
to have a flesh and blood body and be male and female. It would be nothing like
the Angels. Both God and angels are spirits [John 4:24, Hebrews 1:14] and God
created angels as spiritual being jest as He is, but not equal to Himself.
A MAN IS "FOR A LITTLE WHILE
LOWER THAN THE ANGELS." "What are human beings that you are
mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them FOR A
LITTLE WHILE lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor,
subjection all things under their feet. Now in subjecting all things to them, God
left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in
subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who, FOR A LITTLE WHILE was made lower
than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of
death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone"
[Hebrews 2:5-8 New Revised Standard Version]. Mankind is now mortal, and we do
not now see our self as we will be, immortal, but we do see Christ who was in
the beginning with God [John 1:1] and was immortal, who far a little while was
made to be a man, mortal and lower than the angels, but we now see Him immortal
with the Father who is in Heaven.
The author of Hebrews says of
Christ, who was immortal from all eternity, "Since then the children share
in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through
death He ...Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things"
[Hebrews 2:14-17]. He was lower than the angels "for a short while,"
but will never be again. He will never again have the earthly image of Adam
before or after Adam's sin. We will never have Adam's image after the
resurrection.
WHERE IS GOD? AT HIS SECOND
COMING CHRIST WILL DELIVER THE KINGDOM UP TO GOD. The kingdom, the
church to which God adds the saved [Acts 2:47], The church is the body of
Christ [Ephesians 1:22]. "For even as we have many members in one
body...so we, who are many, are one body in Christ" [Romans
12:4-5]. "Now you are the body of Christ, and severally members
thereof" [1 Corinthians 12:27]. The family of God in which all the saved
are a member; God the father, Christ the son, those in Christ are the children
and heirs of God, "But you received the spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abbe, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we
are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ." "For in Adam all die, so also in Christ SHALL ALL BE
MADE ALIVE. But, each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then
they are Christ's AT HIS COMING. THEN COMES THE END (After His second
coming) WHEN HE SHALL DELIVER UP THE KINGDOM TO GOD (To God who is in Heaven,
not on earth)...FOR HE (Christ) MUST REIGN (In the Kingdom where He is now
reigning), TILL HE HAS PUT ALL HIS ENEMIES UNDER HIS FEET. The last enemy that
shall be abolished is death" (At His second coming) [1 Corinthians
15:23-26]. Note: In an attempt to prove that the kingdom will not be delivered
up to God after the Judgment, but that it will be established on the earth
after the coming of Christ some point out that the "UP" is not in
some translations and not in some Greek manuscripts. Even without the
"UP," there is no way to get around the fact that this passage says
the kingdom will be delivered by the Son to God the Father, and I know of no
one who does not believe the Father is in Heaven, not on earth. Not delivered
by the Son to earth from God, but delivered (up) by the Son from earth to the
Father who is in Heaven. It does not say the kingdom will be
established on the earth after the Judgment. Which way is up? Which way is
Heaven from the Earth? Up is used in this passage in the same way as, "I
give up," or "Deliver up the goods." Not as a direction. Christ
will at a time yet to come deliver the kingdom to God who is in Heaven.
WE NOW BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE
EARTHLY - WE SHALL BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY. "And just as
we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly" (Not the flesh and blood image of Adam before or after he
sinned, not an earthly body, not a body of dust) [1 Corinthians 15:48].
2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 5:1
"For our citizenship is in
heaven, from which also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who WILL
transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His
glory" [Philippians 3:20-21].
"For we know that if the
earthly house of our tabernacle BE DISSOLVED, we have a building from God, a
house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens" [2 Corinthians 5:1
American Standard Version]. "For we know that if the earthly tent we live
in IS DESTROYED" [New Revised Standard Version]. Could it be said any
clearer that our earthly bodies will be dissolved just as "the elements
shall BE DISSOLVED with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are
there in shall be burned up" [2 Peter 3:10].
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CHAPTER 7
WAS THE
DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST FOREKNOWN BY GOD?
IS THE
KINGDOM TO BE SET UP IN THE FUTURE
OR
HAS IT
EXISTED FROM THE DAY OF PENTECOST?
MILLENNIALIST TELL US THAT THE
REJECTION OF CHRIST BY THE JEWS WAS NOT FOREKNOWN ABOUT BY GOD, THEREFORE WAS
NOT KNOWN ABOUT BY THE PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT; THAT IT WAS A SURPRISE TO
GOD. THAT GOD PLANNED TO RESTORE ISRAEL AND CHRIST WAS TO RULE THE WORLD ON THE
THRONE OF DAVID IN JERUSALEM, BUT BECAUSE OF THE UNEXPECTED REJECTION OF CHRIST
THE CHURCH WAS SET UP AS A SUBSTITUTION UNTO THE MILLENNIUM. IN THE
PREMILLENNIAL THEORY THERE IS NOWHERE FOR THE DEATH AND CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST
FOR IF THE KINGDOM HAS BEEN RESTORED TO ISRAEL AS THEY SAY GOD PLANNED IT TO
BE, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO DEATH AND NO RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. ACCORDING TO
THEM WE ARE NOW IN THE CHURCH AGE OR "GAP" THAT WAS UNKNOWN ABOUT BY
GOD BEFORE THE DEATH OF CHRIST. IF IT CAN BE CLEARLY SHOWN THAT
[1] THE DEATH, THE RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION OF CHRIST WERE
REPEATEDLY TOLD ABOUT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
[2] THAT THE NEW COVENANT AND THE CHURCH WAS KNOWN ABOUT BY
GOD
[3] THAT CHRIST IS NOW KING ON THE THRONE OF DAVID, THEN THE
PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINE IS FALSE.
MANY DETAILS
OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST FORETOLD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Isaiah 53 gives such a detailed description of the trail and death
of Christ that it could be an eyewitness_ account and yet many PreMillennialist
tell us God was surprised by the rejection of Christ and that the Old Testament
prophets did not know it about.
ISAIAH FORETOLD THE DEATH OF CHRIST,
WHICH MAKES THE MILLENNIUM THEORY AN IMPOSSIBILITY. THEIR THEORY IS THAT
CHRIST CAME TO SET UP AN EARTHLY KINGDOM OVER ISRAEL, BUT THAT GOD DID NOT KNOW
ISRAEL WOULD REJECT CHRIST, IT CAME AS A SURPRISE TO GOD BUT BECAUSE CHRIST WAS
REJECTED BY THE JEWS THE CHURCH WAS SET UP ONLY AS A SUBSTITUTE UNTO CHRIST
COMES BACK AND SETS UP THE KINGDOM. THE JEWS MADE GOD PLAN NOT WORK BY
REJECTING CHRIST AND PUTTING HIM TO DEATH AND GOD DID NOT EVEN KNOW THEY WERE
GOING TO. THEREFORE, ACCORDING TO MANY PREMILLENNIALIST, THE DEATH OF CHRIST
COULD NOT HAVE BEEN KNOWN ABOUT OR TOLD ABOUT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT FOR GOD
WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN ISRAEL WOULD REJECT CHRIST AS THEIR KING AND WOULD NOT
HAVE KNOWN HE WAS GOING TO SET UP THE CHURCH IN THE PLACE OF THE KINGDOM. The
church could not have been told about in the Old Testament because at that time
God did not know He would have to set up the church as a substitute.
1. How Christ
must suffer.
2. That Christ
would be resurrected from the dead (If He had been made King as the
PreMillennialist say God planned, He would not have been dead, therefore, not
resurrected from the dead).
1. "Concerning
which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, WHO PROPHESIED OF
THE GRACE THAT SHOULD COME UNTO YOU: searching what time or what manner of time
the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it TESTIFIED
BEFOREHAND THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, and the glories that should follow them.
To whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they
minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that
preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which
things angels desire to look into" [1 Peter 12:9-10]. It would be strange
if the prophets would have prophesied of the grace that came unto us if they
wanted to look into a time that they know nothing of, and that it was just set
up as a substitution by God because He failed to set up the kingdom that the
prophets did know of. How could they have prophesied of this grace that the
Millennialist tell us that even God did not know about it when the prophets
were prophesying?
2. THE NEW
COVENANT FORETOLD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. "Behold, the days come, says the
Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah; not according to
the covenant that I make with their fathers in the day that I took them by the
hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my
covenant, and I regarded them not, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will
put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I write them: and I
will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not
teach every man his fellow-citizen, and every man his brother, saying, know the
Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will
be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins will I remember no more"
[Jeremiah 31:31-34 as quoted in Hebrews 8:8-13]. The theme of Hebrews is a
comparison of the old and new covenants showing that the new is better then the
old. In Hebrews 8:6-8, "A better covenant" "a second" and
"a new covenant" are used interchangeable. "But now has he
obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator
of A BETTER COVENANT, which has been enacted upon better promises. For if that
FIRST COVENANT had been faultless, then would no place have been sought or A
SECOND. For finding fault with them, he says, behold, the days come, say the
Lord, that I will make A NEW COVENANT with the house of Israel."
"And to Jesus the mediator of A
NEW COVENANT" [Hebrews 12:24].
"He takes away THE FIRST, that he may establish THE
SECOND" [Hebrews 10:9].
"And for this cause he is the mediator of A NEW COVENANT,
that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that
were under THE FIRST COVENANT, they that have been called may receive the
promise of the eternal inheritance" [Hebrews 9:15].
"But through his own blood,
entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption" [Hebrews 9:12]. "Apart from shedding of blood there is no
remission...but now once AT THE END OF THE AGES has he been manifested to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself" [Hebrews 9:22-26]. There is not a
Millennium age after this age. "For this is my blood OF THE COVENANT,
which is poured out for many unto remission of sins" [Matthew
26:28].
JOHN THE BAPTIST Malachi 3:1-Matthew
11:10 "This is he, of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger
before your face, who shall prepare your way before you" Also Malachi 4:5,
Matthew 11:14; 17:10-13.
REJECTION
AND DEATH OF CHRIST
WERE
DEFINITELY NOT A SURPRISE TO GOD
According to most Millennialist, God
was going to restore the throne of David and Christ was to rule on it, but
because the Jews rejected Christ, the church, which was not foreseen or planned
by God, was set up to fill in the "gap" in the 70th week. God knew
about the rejection of Christ. It was not a surprise to Him. The
"gap" theory is pure fictions. HOW CAN ANYONE READ ACTS 2:23 AND SAY
GOD DID NOT KNOW THE JEWS WERE GOING TO REJECT CHRIST, AND GOD DID NOT KNOW
THAT CHRIST WOULD BE PUT TO DEATH BY THEM?
If God had not known about
the rejection and death of Christ, God or no one could not have known about the
resurrection of Christ. David did know that Christ would be in the grave and be
resurrected out of it TO SET ON HIS THRONE AFTER THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF
THE CHRIST. Acts 2:31:
Summary: THE PREMILLENNIALIST GOSPEL.
"But even though we, or an
angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have
preached to you, let him be accursed" [Galatians 1:8].
Luke 24:46: "IT IS WRITTEN, that the Christ should suffer,
and rise again from the dead the third day." If God or none of the
prophets knew about the death of Christ, who wrote of it and where? Also,
Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7. DOES
THIS SOUND LIKE GOD WAS SURPRISED BY THE REJECTION OF CHRIST? HOW COULD HIS
DEATH AND RESURRECTION HAVE BEEN PROPHESIED IN SUCH DETAIL IF HIS REJECTION
WERE A SURPRISE TO GOD? If Christ had become king and sit on David's throne, as
the PreMillennialist teach, the Jews would not have put Him to death, He would
not have shed His blood, PREMILLENNIALIST TEACHING WOULD MAKE SALVATION
NOT POSSIBLE FOR ANYONE. IF CHRIST HAD NOT BEEN REJECTED AND CRUCIFIED BY THE
JEWS, BUT HE HAD SET UP A JEWISH KINGDOM AT THAT TIME, AS MILLENNIALIST TELL US
IT WAS THE PLAN OF GOD TO RESTORE ISRAEL AT THAT TIME, BUT THE JEWS OVERRULED
GOD IN HIS ATTEMPT TO SET UP AN EARTHLY KINGDOM OF JEWS. THE REJECTION AND
DEATH OF CHRIST WERE NOT A SURPRISE TO GOD, IT WAS SOMETHING HE PLANNED BEFORE
HE MADE THE EARTH. IT WAS NEVER PLANNED FOR CHRIST TO SET UP AN EARTHLY KINGDOM
OF JEWS WITHOUT DYING.
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-
CHAPTER 8
KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN OR KINGDOM OF GOD
Dispensationalists teach the Kingdom
of God, and the Kingdom of Heaven are entirely different kingdoms.
They believe the Kingdom of Heaven was to be the Old Testament kingdom of David
restored, but was postponed to the Millennium after the Jews rejected Christ as
their king. That the two are synonymous is proved by the interchangeable use in
parallel passages in the Gospels.
Matthew used "kingdom of
Heaven," "kingdom of God," and "My Father's kingdom,"
but Mark, Luke, John and the rest of the New Testament used "kingdom of
God." Millennialist make a distinction in the kingdom of Heaven
and the kingdom of God.
The Lord's Supper is in "My
Father's kingdom" [Matthew 26:29], in "the kingdom of God" [Mark
14:25]. In the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom the Father granted to Christ
[Luke 29-30]. It is in the church, which is His kingdom [1 Corinthians
11:21-22]. It is eaten on the first day of the week in the assembly of the
church [Acts 20:7].
The new birth puts one in the
kingdom [John 3:5]. If there is no kingdom now, there is no new birth. If there
is a new birth now, there is a kingdom now. "But when they believed Philip
preaching the THING CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and the name of Jesus
Christ, THEY WERE BAPTIZED" [Acts 8:12]. The new birth, being born of the
water and the spirit, now puts a person in the kingdom/church.
Many Millennialist teach that Christ
first planned to set up the kingdom of God but later when He saw He was being
rejected by the Jews set up the kingdom of God as a substitute unto He came a
second time to set up the kingdom of Heaven; they overlook the fact that Mark
used "kingdom of God" in the very beginning of his Gospel [Mark 1:14]
as did Luke and John [Luke 4:43; John 3:3]. They did not use "kingdom of
God" and later change to "kingdom of Heaven" after Christ saw
that He would not be able to set up the kingdom of God.
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CHAPTER 9
WAS THE
CHURCH PLANNED BY GOD OR JUST AN AFTERTHOUGHT?
"To the intent that now unto
the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known
through the church the manifold wisdom of God, ACCORDING TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE
WHICH HE PURPOSED IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD" [Ephesians 3:10-11]. The
church, which was purchased with the blood of Jesus [Acts 20:28], was in the
plan of God from the beginning. If the church were only an afterthought and not
known about in the Old Testament, how is it "according to the eternal
purpose which He (God) purposed in Christ Jesus"? Was Paul
wrong? Millennialist say yes, Paul was wrong, the church is only an
afterthought and was not in the eternal purpose of God.
The Scofield Bible says, "The Church, corporately, is not in
the vision of the O. T. prophet." PreMillennialist teach that the Old
Testament prophecies of the kingdom say a literal Kingdom will someday be set
up in Jerusalem, but the New Testament applied the kingdom prophecies to the
Church [Acts 15: 12-17 - Amos 9:11-12; Ephesians 2:10-22; John 20:10-21; Mark
14:58; 2 Corinthians 6:16- Ezekiel 37:27; Matthew 16:18 - Zechariah 6:12-13; 1
Corinthians 3:11; 3:16-16; Ephesians 2:20]. In the New Testament the terms
temple, Mount Zion, the Israel of God and the New Jerusalem are applied to the
church.
When preaching the first sermon after the resurrection of Christ,
Peter says, "This is that which has been spoken through the prophet
Joel" [Acts 2:16]. "Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and them
that followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days"
[Acts 3:24].
THE CHURCH
KNOWN ABOUT AND FORETOLD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
PreMillennialist tell us that God
planed to set up the kingdom when Christ was on earth, but because of His
rejection by the Jews, the kingdom was put off and the church, which was unseen
by the prophecy of the Old Testament, was a substitution unto Christ comes a
second time and sets up the kingdom. If they were right, the church was not
"in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ
Jesus our Lord." WHY DID PAUL SAY IT WAS? "To bring to light what is
the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who
created all things; in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made
known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ
Jesus our Lord" [Ephesians 3:9-11]. Is there anyway God could have said
any plainer that the church was not just an afterthought; that the church was
not just an accident that came about because God was unable to foresee that the
Jews were going to reject Christ?
"The Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood"
[Acts 20:28]. If it had been as the Millennialist say God planed it
to be, Christ would not have been put to death, He would not have purchased the
church with His blood, He would not have died our death, and we would still
have our sins. How do they think we could be saved if the Jews had not put
Christ to death? ACCORDING TO MILLENNIALIST, GOD PLANNED TO RESTORE THE KINGDOM
TO ISRAEL AND SALVATION COMING TO US GENTILES WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. IF THE
CHURCH WERE ESTABLISHED AS A SUBSTITUTION UNTO THE KINGDOM IS RESTORED TO
ISRAEL, IT COULD NOT BE ACCORDING TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD.
IF BOTH GOD
AND CHRIST HAD NOT FAILED
IF ISRAEL
HAD NOT REJECTED AND KILLED CHRIST
John Darby, the founder of the
modern Premillennial doctrine says, "Supposing for a moment that
Christ has not been rejected, the kingdom would have been set upon earth."
According to him:
1. As taught by
Millennialist, the kingdom being restored was only for Israel, the Gentiles
would never have had the blessings that came to them through the death and
resurrection of Christ.
2. If Christ
had set up the earthly kingdom the Jews were looking for, He would never have
been put to death and whatever the Jews had would have had would have been
without the blood of Christ; it would have lasted for each Jew only for his or
her lifetime. The Jews or no one would have had no hope of eternal life or any
life after death.
3. The earthly
kingdom of Israel would not have needed the death and blood of Christ, the
church, which was only a substitute for the kingdom, would never have been bought
with the blood of Christ [Acts 20:28]; the church never would have been.
4. There would
have been only the blood of bulls and goats, which cannot save [Hebrews 10:4].
As taught by Millennialist, the death of Christ was not planned or
needed.
5. There would
have been no second coming of Christ, no resurrection, no eternal life for Jews
or Gentiles, and no Millennium.
o The
Premillennial doctrine is a denial of many of the clearest teaching of the
Bible.
IF GOD SET UP THE CHURCH ONLY AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT,
THE MILLENNIUM AS IS TAUGHT BY PREMILLENNIALIST WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST AS MUCH AN
AFTERTHOUGHT, JUST AS UNFORESEEN, JUST AS UNKNOWN ABOUT BY GOD AS THEY SAY THE
CHURCH WAS, BUT THEY REPEATEDLY USE THE OLD TESTAMENT TO PROVE THE MILLENNIAL
THEORY. THE MILLENNIALIST ARGUMENT THAT THE CHURCH WAS ONLY AN AFTERTHOUGHT,
THAT IT WAS UNFORESEEN MAKES THE MILLENNIAL BE THE SAME AS THE CHURCH, JUST AS
UNFORESEEN, JUST AS MUCH ONLY AN AFTERTHOUGHT. IF THERE IS NOTHING IN THE OLD
TESTAMENT ABOUT THE UNFORESEEN CHURCH, THERE COULD BE NOTHING IN THE OLD
TESTAMENT ABOUT THE UNFORESEEN MILLENNIAL. IF GOD HAD NOT FORESEEN THE
REJECTION OF CHRIST AS THE KING OF THE JEWS, HE WOULD NOT HAVE FORESEEN THE
NEED TO POSTPONE SETTING UP THE KINGDOM UNTO THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WHICH
HE WOULD NOT HAVE FORESEEN. HE WOULD HAVE FORESEEN NOTHING ABOUT A MILLENNIAL
KINGDOM.
KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WOULD. "My
kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my
servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my
kingdom not from hence" [John 18:36]. His throne, a part of the kingdom is
not of this world, therefore, not in Jerusalem. CHRIST NEVER INTENDED TO SET UP
AN EARTHLY KINGDOM. When the Jews came to take Him by force and make Him king,
He withdrew into the mountain alone [John 6:15]. "And being asked by the
Pharisees, when the kingdom of God comes, he answered them and said, the
kingdom of God comes not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! Or,
there! For the kingdom of God is within you" [Luke 17:20]. An earthly
kingdom of Jews was not the kingdom Christ came into the world to set up.
"For our citizenship is in heaven" [Philippians 2:23].
HAL LINSEY AND THE POSTPONEMENT OF
THE KINGDOM AND GOD'S ALTERED PLAIN, THE "CHURCH AGE." "There
was no lack of evidence to show that Jesus was indeed the long-awaited Messiah.
Had the people received Him, He would have fulfilled the Kingly prophecies in
their day in additions to the one regarding the suffering Messiah. But, when
the Jewish nation as a whole rejected Christ, the fulfillment of His kingship
was postponed until the final culmination of world history." Hal Lindsey,
"There's A New World Coming" Page 30. If Christ had set up a world
kingdom and was king of the Jews, how could He have fulfilled "one
regarding the suffering Messiah"? Why would the Jews crucify Him if He had
saved them from the Romans and restored the kingdom of David? How could Isaiah
have foretold of His rejection and death if His rejection by the Jews was
unknown about even by God? "He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he
opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is let to the slaughter, and as a sheep
that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and
judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them
considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the
transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due: And they made his grave
with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth" [Isaiah 53:7-9]. How could
anything that Isaiah said have come to pass if the Jews had made Him their king
and not have rejected Him? The only answer is that nothing Isaiah foretold
would have come to pass if the Jews had not rejected Christ.
Who do you believe?
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH WAS
"ACCORDING TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE" OF GOD. "And to make all men
see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages has been hid in God
who created all things; to the intent that now unto the principalities and the
powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the
manifold wisdom of God, ACCORDING TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN
CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD" [Ephesians 3:9-11].
BEFORE THE DAY OF PENTECOST [Acts 2]
THE KINGDOM IS SPOKEN OF AS BEING IN THE NEAR FUTURE. FROM THE DAY OF PENTECOST
ON THE KINGDOM WAS SPOKEN OF AS EXISTING.
BEFORE
PENTECOST - KINGDOM AT HAND
AFTER PENTECOST
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-
CHAPTER 10
BACK TO THE
TEMPLE MADE WITH HANDS
The Premillennial view is a return
to Judaism, a re-establishment of national Israel and the types and shadows of
the Old Covenant, which the writer of Hebrews is warning against throughout the
whole book.
FROM THE
BLOOD OF CHRIST BACK TO THE BLOOD OF ANIMALS
Hebrews 10:16-17: "This
is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I
will put my laws on their heart, and upon their mind also will I write them;
then he says, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Now
where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of
Jesus by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the
veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a great priest over the house of
God; let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure
water."
Hebrews 12:24-25: "And to Jesus
the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks
better than that of Abel. See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they
escaped not when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more shall
not we escape who turn away from him that warns from heaven."
Hebrews 13:20: "Now the God of
peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the
blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus."
Hebrews 10:29: "Of how much
sorer punishment, think you, shall he be judged worthy, who has trodden
underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant wherewith
he was sanctified an unholy thing."
Acts 20:28 "Take heed unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you
bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own
blood."
Romans 3:24-25: "Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show
his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done afore time, in
the forbearance of God."
Romans 5:5-9: "For while we
were yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a
righteous man will one die: for peradventure for the good man some
one would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now
justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through
him."
Ephesians 1-9: "Having
foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his
grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: in whom we have our
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to
the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and
prudence, making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good
pleasure which he purposed in him unto a dispensation of the fullness of the
times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the
things upon the earth; in him, I say, in whom also we were made a heritage,
having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who works all things
after the counsel of his will; to the end that we should be unto the praise of
his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: in whom you also, having heard
the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, having also
believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest
of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the
praise of his glory."
Colossians 1:19-20: "For it was
the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fullness dwell; and
through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the
blood of his cross; through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or
things in the heavens."
1 Peter 1:2: "According to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace
be multiplied."
1 Peter 1:19-20: "But with
precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, even the blood of Christ: who was
foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the
end of times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, that raised
him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in
God."
1 John 1:7: "But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus his Son cleans us from all sin."
Revelation 1:5-6: "And from
Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the
ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loves us, and loosed us from our
sins by his blood; and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God
and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
Amen."
Revelation 5:9-10: "And they
sing a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the book, and to open the seals
thereof: for you was slain, and did purchase unto God with your blood men of
every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and made them to be unto our
God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth."
FROM CHRIST
OUR HIGH PRIEST
BACK TO THE
OLD TESTAMENT PRIESTHOOD
Hebrews 8:1-4: "Now in the
things which we are saying the chief point is this: we have such a high priest,
who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a
minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched,
not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices:
wherefore it is necessary that this high priest also have somewhat to offer.
Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are
those who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve that which is a copy
and shadow of the heavenly things." IF THE TEMPLE WERE REBUILT IN THE
MILLENNIUM, THEN THE OLD TESTAMENT PRIESTHOOD WOULD HAVE TO BE RESTORED WHICH
WOULD REQUIRE THAT THE LAW BE RESTORED; IT WOULD REQUIRE GOING BACK TO THE
BLOOD OF GOATS AND CALVES. "But Christ having come a high priest of the
good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of
goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the
holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and
bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled,
sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of
Christ." See Hebrews chapter nine.
Hebrews 9:6-25: "Now these
things having been prepared, the priests go in continually into the first
tabernacle, accomplishing the services; but into the second the high priest alone,
once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself, and for the
errors of the people: the Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the
holy place had not yet been made manifest, while the first tabernacle is yet
standing; WHICH IS A FIGURE FOR THE TIME PRESENT; according to which
are offered both gifts and sacrifices that cannot, as touching the conscience,
make the worshiper perfect, being only (with meats and drinks and divers
washings) carnal ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. But
Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the
greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through
his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a
heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of
the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the
mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption
of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been
called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a
testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it. For a
testament is of force where there has been death: for it never does avail while
he that made it lives. Wherefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated
without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses unto all the
people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats,
with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and
all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded
to you-ward. Moreover, the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he
sprinkled in like manner with the blood. And according to the law, I may almost
say, all things are cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there
is no remission. It was necessary; therefore, that the copies of the things in
the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these. For Christ entered not into a holy place
made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to
appear before the face of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself
often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood
not his own; else must he often have suffered since the foundation of the
world: but now once at the end of the ages has he been manifested to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once
to die, and after this comes judgment so Christ also, having been once offered
to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that
wait for him, unto salvation."
THE PREMILLENNIAL BELIEF REJESTS THE
PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST FOR THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
FROM THE
SUBSTANCE BACK TO THE SHADOW
Hebrews 8:4-5: "Now if he were
on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the
gifts according to the law; who serve that which is a copy and shadow
of the heavenly things, even as Moses is warned of God when he is about to
make the tabernacle: for, See, he says, that you make all things according to
the pattern that was showed you in the mount." THE BOOK OF HEBREWS IS ONE
LONG ARGUMENT AGAINST GOING BACK FROM THE SUBSTANCE TO THE SHADOW, FROM THE NEW
COVENANT BACK TO THE OLD COVENANT, WHICH BOTH JUDAISM (a restoration of
national Israel) AND PREMILLENNIAL TEACHING (a modern day restoration of
national Israel) DOES, THEREFORE, THE BOOK OF HEBREWS IS ONE LONG ARGUMENT
AGAINST THE PREMILLENNIAL VIEW. PreMillennialist teach Christianity will be
done away and replaced by Judaism at the coming of Christ. The Premillennial
doctrine is a return to Judaism, a re-establishment of national Israel and the
types and shadows of the Old Covenant, which the writer of Hebrews is warning
against throughout the whole book.
Hebrews 10:1-6: "For the law
having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things,
can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually,
make perfect them that draw nigh. Else would they not have ceased to be offered
because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more
consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance
made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and
goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he comes into the world, he said,
Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body you did prepare for me; in
whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure: Then said I,
Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O
God, saying above, sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein (the which are
offered according to the law), then has he said, Lo, I am come to do your will.
He takes away the first, that he may establish the second. By which will
we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all. And every priest indeed stands day by day ministering and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins:
but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the
right hand of God; henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool
of his feet. For by one offering he has perfected forever them that are
sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after he had
said, This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says
the Lord: I will put my laws on their heart, and upon their mind also will I
write them; then said he, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin."
FROM THE
BETTER NEW COVENANT BACK TO THE OLD COVENANT
Hebrews 10:7-11: "Then said I,
Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do your will, O
God. Saying above, Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein (the which are
offered according to the law), then he has said, Lo, I am come to do your will.
He takes away the first, that he may establish the second. By which will we
have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all." See Hebrews 9 and 10.
Hebrews 12:22-23 is a list of seven ways the New Covenant is now
better than the Old Covenant.
1. You have not
come unto a mount that could be touched and that burned with fire, "but
YOU ARE COME unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem."
2. You are come
"To innumerable hosts of angels."
3. You are come
"To the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in
heaven."
4. You are come
"To God the Judge of all."
5. You are come
"To the spirits of just men made perfect." "And to the spirits
of the righteous made perfect" [New Revised Standard Version].
6. You are come
"To Jesus the mediator of a new covenant."
7. You are come
"To the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of
Abel."
Jeremiah 31:31-36: "Behold, the
days come, says Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made
with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of
the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto
them, says Jehovah. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, says Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts,
and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man
his brother, saying, know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least
of them unto the greatest of them, says Jehovah: for I will forgive their
iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. Thus says Jehovah, who gives
the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for
a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; Jehovah
of hosts is his name: If these ordinances depart from before me, says Jehovah,
then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me
forever." This is quoted in Hebrews 8:8-11 and 10:16 and applied to the
New Covenant. Jeremiah did tell of the coming of the New Covenant. It was not
something unknown in the Old Testament.
FROM THAT
WHICH MAKES ALIVE BACK TO THAT WHICH KILLS
2 Corinthians 3:6-11: "Who also
made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of
the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. But if the
ministration of death, written, and engraved on stones, came with glory, so
that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the face of Moses
for the glory of his face; which glory was passing away: how shall not rather
the ministration of the spirit be with glory? For if the ministration of
condemnation has glory, much rather does the ministration of righteousness
exceed in glory. For verily that which has been made glorious has not been made
glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses. For if that
which passes away was with glory, much more that which remained is in
glory."
Millennialist believe the New
Covenant is a parenthesis, something added to be temporary, unto the
Millennium. Actual they have it backward. The Law was a parenthesis added for
fifteen hundred years between the promise made to Abraham and the death and
resurrection of Christ, "added because of transgressions...UNTIL THE SEED
SHOULD COME" [Galatians 3:19]. A parenthesis is something added to a
sentence, which is not a real part of the sentence. Christ is that seed and the
parenthesis, which was the temporary Law; the "wall of partition"
between Israel and all other nations has been "abolished." "For
He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the
barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, WHICH IS
THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make
the two into one new man, thus establishing peace" [Ephesians 2:14-15].
The temporary parenthesis was "passing away" [2 Corinthians 3:4-9],
was "nailed to the cross" [Colossians 2:4-16], has "been
abolished" [Ephesians 2:14-16], and was "done away in Christ" [2
Corinthians 3:11]. The Law, which was only a temporary parenthesis could not
"make the worshiper perfect in conscience" and was "imposed
until a time of reformation" [Hebrews 9:9-10].
The Millennialist who want to go back to the Law, back to the
temporary parenthesis "have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking
to be justified by the law; you have fallen from grace" [Galatians 5:4].
At the death of Christ the veil of the temple was "rent in two from the
top to the bottom" [Matthew 27:51] bringing to an end the office of the
priest and the sacrifices for sin, Christ having made the one sacrifice and
bring to an end the sacrifices made under the Law. "And every priest
indeed stands day by day ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, the which can never take away sins: but he, when he had offered one
sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right had of God" [Hebrews
10:11-12].
FROM FREE
BACK TO BONDAGE
Galatians 4:1-31: "But I say
that so long as the heir is a child, he differs nothing from a bond servant
though he is lord of all; but is under guardians and stewards until the day
appointed of the father. So we also, when we were children, were held in
bondage under the rudiments of the world: but when the fullness of the time
came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he
might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
our hearts, crying, Abbe, Father, so that you are no longer a bondservant, but
a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. How be it at that time, not
knowing God, you were in bondage to them that by nature are no gods: but now
that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how turn
you back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto you desire to be
in bondage over again? You observe days, and months, and seasons, and
years. I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in
vain. I beseech you, brethren, become as I am, for I also am become as you are.
You did me no wrong: but you know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I
preached the gospel unto you the first time: and that which was a temptation to
you in my flesh you despised not, nor rejected; but you received me as an angel
of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where then is that gratification of yourselves?
For I bear you witness, that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes
and given them to me. So then am I become your enemy, by telling you the truth?
They zealously seek you in no good way; nay, they desire to shut you out, that
you may seek them. But it is good to be zealously sought in a good matter at
all times, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom
I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you-but I could wish to be
present with you now, and to change my tone; for I am perplexed about
you. Tell me, you that desire to be under the law; do you not hear the
law?For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid,
and one by the free woman. How be it the son by the handmaid is born after the
flesh; but the son by the free woman is born through promise. Which things
contain an allegory: for these women are two covenants; one from mount Sinai,
bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar. Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in
Arabia and answers to the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her
children. But, the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother. For it
is written, Rejoice, you barren that bears not; Break forth and cry, you that
travails not: For more are the children of the desolate than of her that has
the husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as
then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the
Spirit, so also it is now [Paul is saying Israel, born after the flesh, was
them, at the time he was writing, persecuting the church, born after the
Spirit. PreMillennialist say we will go back to "the flesh"
in the Millennial]. How be it what say the scripture? Cast
out the handmaid and her son: for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit
with the son of the free woman. Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a
handmaid, but of the free woman."
Yet, we are told that the New Covenant is only an afterthought and
is to last only unto the coming of Christ when the Old Covenant will be
restored. WITHOUT GOING BACK TO ANIMAL SACRIFICES THERE COULD NOT BE A
RESTORING OF THE LAW OF MOSES. WITHOUT RESTORING THE LAW OF MOSES THERE COULD
NOT BE A RESTORING OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL; WITHOUT RESTORING THE NATION OF
ISRAEL THERE COULD NOT A MILLENNIUM.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
CHAPTER 11
OLD
TESTAMENT PASSAGES
USED BY
MILLENNIALIST TO TEACH CHRIST WOULD SET UP A KINGDOM
AND RULE THE
WORLD FROM JERUSALEM IN THE MILLENNIUM.
MILLENNIALIST TELL US THAT GOD
PLANNED FOR CHRIST TO BE KING ON THE THRONE OF DAVID WHEN HE CAME THE FIRST
TIME AND RULE THE WORLD FROM JERUSALEM; THAT GOD DID NOT KNOW THE JEWS WERE
GOING TO REJECT CHRIST AND PUT HIM TO DEATH, BUT BECAUSE THEY DID, THE CHURCH,
AN AFTERTHOUGHT WAS SET UP AND NEW PLAINS WERE MADE FOR CHRIST TO COME A SECOND
TIME AND DO WHAT HE COULD NOT DO THE FIRST TIME. IF THEY WERE RIGHT,
GOD WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN CHRIST WOULD NOT NOW BE ON THE THRONE OF DAVID. GOD
WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE SECOND COMING. GOD OR NONE OF THE PROPHETS WOULD
NOT HAVE KNOWN ANYTHING ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM. THERE COULD NOT BE ANYTHING IN
THE OLD TESTAMENT ABOUT THE DEATH OF CHRIST, THE CHURCH, THE SECOND COMING OF
CHRIST OR THE MILLENNIUM. If they were right, the Millennium would have
been just as unknown by God as the church; therefore, the second coming and the
Millennium would be just as much an afterthought as the church. THE CHURCH, THE
SECOND COMING AND THE MILLENNIUM WOULD ALL BE BECAUSE OF THE JEWS REJECTING
CHRIST AS THEIR KING, NOT THE FOREKNOWN PLAN OF GOD.
EZEKIEL 34-48
PreMillennialist believe all scriptures must be taken literal. If
Ezekiel 38-48 were taken literal, then there will once again be sin-offerings
in the future. Chapters 38-48 were fulfilled after the Babylonian captivity
when Israel was restored to the promised land. Israel being restored for a
thousand years is not taught in Ezekiel. "For such a high priest became
us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than
the heavens; who needs not daily like those high priests, to offer up
sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people: for
this he did once for all, when he offered up himself" [Hebrews 7:27]. For
the sin-offerings to be restored would be rejecting the offerings of Christ. I
have never known of any Millennialist who believe David will literally be king
of Israel in the thousand years [Ezekiel 34:23]; they believe Christ will be
the king of Israel in the Millennium, that David will not literally be the king
but is symbolic of Christ. Christ is now both priest and king. If this passage
were speaking about when Christ comes, the Jews would have to be literally
mixed among the nations and worshiping idols as they were when Ezekiel wrote
this, not in their own nation.
DANIEL 2 "In the days of these kings" Brian Schwertley,
a Dispensationalists says, "In this prophetic explanation of King
Nebuchadnezzar's dream Daniel revealed that the kingdom of Christ would be
established in the days of the Roman Empire; 'And in the days of these kings
the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume
all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever' (Dan. 2:44). The vast majority
of interpreters (including Dispensationalists) identify the four kingdoms as
(1) the head of gold--the neo-Babylonian Empire; (2) the breast and arms--the Medo-Persian
Empire; (3) the belly and thighs--the Grecian Empire; (4) the legs and
feet--the Roman Empire. Daniel says that the statue which represents these
successive pagan empires is still standing when the kingdom of Christ is set
up." http:www.reformedonling.com/view/reformedonling/milenium.htm
1. Gold -
Babylon Empire ["You are the head of gold" Daniel 2:38]
2. Silver -
Medo-Persia Empire ["After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to
you" Daniel 2:39]
3. Brass -
Macedo-Grecian Empire ["And another third kingdom of brass" Daniel
2:39]
4. Iron - Roman
Empire ["And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron" Daniel
2:40]. "And whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and
part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it the
strength of the iron" [Daniel 2:40-43]. THERE IS NOTHING SAID ABOUT THE
TOES BEING TEN WORLD KINGDOMS, BUT THE MILLENNIALIST ADD TEN KINGDOMS, AND SOME
MILLENNIALIST PLACE THESE KINGDOMS IN THE THOUSAND YEARS. WE ARE SPECIFICALLY
TOLD WHAT PARTS OF THE IMAGE REPRESENT KINGDOMS AND THERE ARE ONLY FOUR, NOT
FOURTEEN KINGDOMS. WE ARE SPECIFICALLY TOLD THAT THE STONE SMOTE THE IMAGE
ON THE FEET, NOT THE TOES, AND THE IMAGE WAS ON IT FEET [Rome was still
standing] WHEN THE STONE SMOTE IT.
"And in the days of these kings
[Rome] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed
[Not a kingdom that will last for only a thousand years], nor shall the
sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. For as much as you saw
that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in
pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God
has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is
certain [Certain even if Millennialist tell us it was postponed and did not
happen], and the interpretation thereof sure" [Daniel 2:44-45]. The image
was smitten on its feet, which was the Roman empire. The kingdom God was
to set up was to be "in the days of these kings." Therefore, the
kingdom had to be set up while the Caesars were ruling Roman. It smote the
image on its feet and destroyed it. There has never been another world empire;
this line of world kingdoms ceased. The kingdom of God destroyed the image. If
the Millennium is coming soon, in our lifetime, as many PreMillennialist say it
is, there is no image for it to smote on its feet and destroy.
This passage says:
1. God will set
up a kingdom in the days of the Iron Empire, which was the Roman Empire.
2. This kingdom
will stand forever.
This kingdom will be set up "in
the days of these kings," during the fourth world power -
Rome. Millennialist admit that God intended to sat up a kingdom then
but says this did not happen for the Jews defeated God.
A prophecy that is of something that
is to happen at a given time, "in the days of these kings," sometimes
called a "time prophecy" cannot be changed or deferred to a later
time. A prophecy that was of the first coming of Christ and the kingdom He was
to set up at the first coming of Christ cannot be changed or
"postponed" to be at the second coming of Christ. If it was
"postponed" and did not come to pass at the first coming the prophecy
was a failure. PREMILLENNIALIST MAKE ALL THE PROPHESIES OF THE KINGDOM AND OF
THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST A FAILURE, THEREFORE, PREMILLENNIALIST MAKE THE
PROPHETS, GOD AND CHRIST TO HAVE FAILED. Then how can we know God will not fail
to set up the kingdom at a later time? If God failed one time He can fail
often, therefore, is He God? Not if the Premillennial belief were
true.
DANIEL 4 Nebuchadnezzar's dream in
Daniel 4 is applied by some to the Millennium even though Daniel tells us
that the dream is about Nebuchadnezzar, not the Millennium. "This is the
interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which is come
upon my lord the king: that you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling
shall be with the beasts of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass as
oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over
you; till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it
to whomsoever he will" [Daniel 4:24-25].
ISAIAH 11:1-12 Millennialist often use Isaiah 11:1-12 and teach
that it is to be fulfilled in the Millennium. Paul quotes Isaiah and says he is
speaking of the first coming of Christ. "I have found David the Son of
Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do all my will. Of this man's seed has
God according to promise brought unto Israel a Savior, Jesus" [Acts
13:22-24].
ISAIAH 28:14-16 "Wherefore hear
the word of Jehovah, you scoffers that rule this people that is in Jerusalem:
because you have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are
we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not
come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid
ourselves: therefore, thus says the Lord Jehovah, behold, I lay in Zion for a
foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation:
he that believes shall not be in haste." The Millennialist use this
passage even despite the fact that it is quoted by both Paul [Romans 9:31-33],
and two times by Peter [1 Peter 2:6-7; Acts 4:11] and both Paul and Peter apply
it to Christ being the corner stone of the Church which Millennialist tell us
was unknown about by the prophets. I believe that if I were a Millennialist
that I would never get near this passage. The rulers of Jerusalem thought that
by putting Christ to death would be the end of Him, but, by the
resurrection, God made Him the corner stone of the church. Their "covenant
with death" [Isaiah 28:18] was annulled by the resurrection of Christ.
Peter says the same thing that Isaiah said, "You rulers of the people, and
elders...be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, [Their "covenant with
death" which was annulled] who God raised from the dead, even in him does
that man stand here before you whole. He is the stone which was set at naught
of you the builders, which was made the head of the corner" [Acts 4:8-11].
ISAIAH 49:8 is quoted by Paul in 2
Corinthians 6:2 and he says, "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold,
not is the day of salvation."
ISAIAH 61:1-2 is quoted by Christ in
Luke 4 and in 4:21 Christ says, "This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears."
EZEKIEL 37:27 is a passage
that PreMillennialist use to teach that the kingdom will literally be rebuilt
in Jerusalem after the second coming of Christ. Their problem is that Paul
applied this prophecy to the church, which was set up "in the days of
these kings" - the Roman Empire, not to rebuilding Israel after the second
coming of Christ. "For we are a temple of the living God; even as God
said, I WILL DWELL IN THEM, AND WALK IN THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY
SHALL BE MY PEOPLE" [2 Corinthians 6:16].
ISAIAH 65:17-20 is used by
PreMillennialist but it is speaking of new heavens and a new earth which they
say will be after the Millennium, some the eternal state on earth after the
Millennium, some the eternal state in Heaven; therefore, even according to them
it is not speaking of the Millennium. The passage is speaking a completely new
order that was to come, the church now, not the eternal state after the
judgment.
PSALMS 2:1-9 "Why do the nations rage, and the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sits in the heavens will laugh: The Lord will have them in derision. Then will he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure: yet I have set my king Upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, You are my son: this day have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations (footnote: Gentiles) for your inheritance." Paul tells us this has been fulfilled in Christ. "And we bring you good news of the promise made unto the fathers, that God has fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written the second Psalms, You are my Son, this day have I begotten you" [Acts 13:32-34]. Also in Hebrews 1:5 and 5:5 it is quoted and applied to Christ. Both times applied to His first coming. Yet, Millennialist tell us that Psalms 2:6 is to be fulfilled in the Millennium age. But at the same time they tell us that God was going to set up the kingdom when Christ came the first time, but the rejection of Christ by the Jews, WHICH THEY SAY GOD DID NOT FORESEE, caused the kingdom to be postponed. HOW COULD ANY OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGE HAVE ANY REFERENCE TO EITHER THE CHURCH OR THE MILLENNIUM IF GOD DID NOT FORESEE THAT CHRIST WOULD BE REJECTED AND HE WOULD NOT SET U